James T. Booth, an Ex-LPL broker, Arrested, and Facing Charges of Running Alleged $5 Million Ponzi Scheme
James T. Booth, an ex-LPL broker from Norwalk, Connecticut, has been arrested and charged with running a $5 million Ponzi scheme which allegedly defrauded 40 clients, according to a Complaint from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York under review by investor rights attorney Alan Rosca.
Investor rights attorney Alan Rosca, of the Rosca Scarlato LLC law firm, is investigating activity related to James T. Booth’s alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Investors who believe they may have lost money in activity related to James T. Booth’s alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme are encouraged to contact attorney Alan Rosca with any useful information or for a free, no obligation discussion about their options.
James Booth, from 2013 through 2019, allegedly solicited money from clients of Booth Financial and also allegedly falsely promised to invest clients’ money in securities offered outside of their ordinary advisory and brokerage accounts, the Complaint states.
Booth, to be specific, allegedly directed certain clients to make out checks or wire money to an entity named Insurance Trends Inc., according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Booth allegedly controlled the bank account of Insurance Trends, and, rather than investing his clients’ funds, allegedly subsequently misappropriated his clients’ funds to pay his personal and business expenses, the Complaint reports.
James Booth, during the course of his alleged scheme, allegedly solicited money from clients of Booth Financial and also allegedly made false promises to invest their money in securities offered outside of their ordinary advisory and brokerage accounts, the Complaint notes.
Booth, rather, allegedly used nearly all of the money to pay personal and business expenses, the Complaint reports. Following Booth’s arrest in Norwalk, Connecticut, he will be purportedly be presented before Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox in Manhattan federal court, the Complaint reveals.
James Booth Allegedly Convinced a Widowed Elderly Investor to Move Cash from Her Deceased Husband’s Pension into Insurance Trends
Booth allegedly lured several of his victims with false promises of safe investments with high returns, and in one alleged instance cited by the aforementioned indictment, allegedly convinced a recently widowed elderly investor to move money she had received from her late husband’s pension into Insurance Trends, the Complaint notes.
Booth allegedly promised the elderly widow that she would have $1 million by the time she was 100 years old, and said widow then allegedly invested over $600,000 with Booth, the Complaint reports.
Booth, in another case, allegedly convinced another investor to move his money into an investment product that, according to Booth, would never lose its principal and would grow with the market, the Complaint notes.
Said investor, based on this false representation, allegedly moved money that he had set aside for his child’s college expenses, at least approximately $60,000, to Booth, the Complaint reports. Booth then allegedly subsequently failed to provide said second investor with documentation of his investment or to allow this investor to redeem his investment, the Complaint states.
James Booth Fired by LPL Financial
James Booth has spent 28 years in the financial industry with six different firms, and was fired by LPL Financial back in May, according to Booth’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report.
Booth, before being registered with LPL in 2018, had been a broker with Invest Financial Corp. since 2005, FINRA notes. LPL then bought Invest Financial and three other broker-dealers that were part of the National Planning Holdings network, FINRA states.
LPL has so far settled five customer complaints involving Mr. Booth, according to Booth’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report, and there are 18 pending customer complaints against him.
Booth was also registered with Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc, in Norwalk, Connecticut to January 18, 1993 to December 8, 2005, FINRA notes.
Finally, it is important to note that, as of the date of this article, there has not been a finding of liability as to the complaints or allegations mentioned in this article, unless otherwise indicated. Any reader should also read the original sources hyperlinked in this blog for accuracy, including any BrokerCheck report and/or record of any disciplinary or regulatory action. Those sources are incorporated by reference into the text of this blog, and are the governing materials in case of any inconsistencies or typos in this blog.
Securities Lawyer Investigating
The Rosca Scarlato LLC law firm represents investors who lose money as a result of investment-related fraud or misconduct and are currently investigating James T. Booth’s alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The firm takes most cases of this type on a contingency fee basis and advance the case costs, and only gets paid for their fees and costs out of money recovered for clients.
Attorney Alan Rosca, a securities lawyer and adjunct professor of securities regulation, and has represented thousands of victimized investors across the country and around the world in cases ranging from arbitrations to class actions.
Investors who believe they lost money as a result of James T. Booth’s alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme may contact attorney Alan Rosca for a free no-obligation evaluation of their recovery options, at 888-998-0530, via email at arosca@rscounsel.law, or through the contact form on this webpage.
