Dallas Stockbroker Wade Lawrence Gets 3 Years for Securities Fraud Scheme

Dallas securities broker Wade Lawrence was given a three-year prison sentence January 20, 2015 by a Texas federal judge after pleading guilty to offering false investments that defrauded his friends and business associates out of more than $1.5 million for his own benefit.

The federal court also ordered Lawrence, 43, to pay $1,542,966 in restitution and forfeit $126,074 in proceeds in light of his August admission to a single charge of securities fraud at the time the criminal indictment was filed.

Beginning in January 2012 and continuing through September 2013, Lawrence engaged in a scheme to defraud to obtain funds from individuals, many of which had longstanding personal and business relationships and trusted him while he was working as a stockbroker at Southwest Securities, now part of Hilltop Securities Inc.

As part of the scheme, Lawrence sold various false investments, including real estate ventures, high-risk options on the Volatility Index on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and securities in Facebook and his own company, representing that these investments would return anywhere from 20 to 100 percent.

Lawrence allegedly directed investors to mail or wire-transfer funds to his personal account at Wells Fargo Bank, instead of a Southwest Securities account, giving various explanations, including that he was trying to start his own VIX fund and needed to establish a history for the fund.

Although Lawrence invested some of the money as he represented, he spent several hundred thousand dollars of the proceeds for personal living expenses, including travel, mortgage payments and expensive jewelry.

Rogue investment advisors such as Lawrence are not uncommon, and often times their rogue actions are left unchecked by investments firms’ failure to supervise. Tell-tale signs, such as the ones mentioned above, include requests to wire funds to personal accounts rather than investment firm accounts and unreasonable or outrageous promised returns. There may be avenues for retribution if you have been a victim of such a scheme.

Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud. If you have questions about your legal rights, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.