The estate of a recently-deceased registered investment advisor continues to benefit from a Ponzi scheme the advisor allegedly ran on more than 50 investors that raised $29.3 million, according to newly-filed charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The commission filed its complaint in Utah federal court against the estate of Stephen Romney Swensen, who died in June at the age of 50. During the time period in question, Swensen worked for a variety of firms, including J.W. Cole Financial, Allgeis Investment Services and Summit Brokerage Services, according to his BrokerCheck profile.
The scheme purportedly began in 2011, when Swensen began soliciting clients to invest in Crew Capital, promising guaranteed 5% annual returns that could reach as high as 10%. But Swensen allegedly failed to reveal he owned and controlled Crew Capital, and went to great lengths to convince clients it was legitimate.
Swensen allegedly paid a company to maintain Crew Capital’s legal status as a Nevada LLC, paying extra for their “privacy package” so his name wouldn’t show up on any official documents. He also used mail forwarding services to give the impression Crew Capital had offices throughout the country, according to the commission.
To keep up the alleged fraud, Swensen…
