A California federal court judge ruled that a Carlsbad, Calif.-based investment advisor was liable for defrauding multiple clients out of more than $2.2 million over a period of years.
Chief Judge Dana Sabraw granted the SEC's motion for summary judgment against Mark J. Boucher and his company, Strategic Wealth Advisor Group Services, for misappropriating client funds. As a result of Sabraw's decision, the SEC can forego a full trial against the advisor, who is also facing criminal charges.
Arguments regarding penalties in the case will come at a later date.
Boucher was originally affiliated with Raymond James for 16 years before brief stints at Northwest Asset Management and SCF Investment Advisers, according to his IAPD AdviserInfo page. According to the new order by Sabraw, Raymond James fired Boucher for violating the firm’s “trust, estate and power of attorney relationships policy,” and he was also terminated from SCF for misappropriating client funds.
Beginning in 2001 when he was at Raymond James, Boucher began advising Marguerite Lennard and her late husband. On 49 separate instances at Raymond James, Boucher forged checks with Lennard’s signature to misappropriate funds, according to the SEC.
But even after being fired from Raymond James, Boucher continued to advise Lennard while he was affiliated with SCF. But on May 10, 2019, Lennard received a letter from American Express including a copy of a check for about $14,000, and Lennard realized the signature wasn’t hers. Boucher subsequently admitted the alleged theft, offering to pay Lennard if she did not tell anyone. Lennard refused, and subsequently contacted Schwab (where her accounts were held) and learned that numerous checks had been written from her account to pay off Boucher’s credit cards.
The order also detailed Boucher’s interactions with Ross and Brett King, brothers and co-owners and operators of King Shock Technology, which build and service shock absorbers. Boucher was initially a customer and eventually advised the duo on financial matters. According to the order, in March 2017, Boucher sold shares totaling about $70,000 from Brett King’s Schwab account, and the next day nearly $90,000 was transferred from Brett King’s Schwab account to his brother’s, with Brett having no memory of seeing a transfer order.
Shortly afterward, Schwab got a request to authorize a wire transfer of $60,000 to a California-based car dealership out of Ross King’s account, which he purportedly never approved. When an employee at the car dealership questioned Boucher, he said Schwab made an error putting Ross King’s name instead of his own. But someone from Boucher’s phone was able to answer security questions for Ross King, releasing the funds, and Boucher bought a Camaro in his own name.
But Boucher later sold the car to Ross King for $52,500, according to the commission; at the time of the deal, King didn’t know Boucher had used his funds for the initial purchase, meaning King had essentially paid for the car twice. The King brothers didn’t realize the alleged deception until the dealership’s owner reached out to them; he was following up on Boucher’s actions after learning about him from his friend, Marguerite Lennard.