Tax-Deferred Annuity Investment
Scams
09/06 - PA - Two men posed as lawyers to trick seniors into making
questionable investments in a $3.5 million scam, authorities said.
John N. Wight, 57, of Quakertown, and Brian J. Newmark, 34, of Havertown,
Delaware County, worked to defraud two elderly victims from 2001 through
2004, according to an indictment filed this week in U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
'It's sad to think that this goes on," said Richard Lloret,
the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.
According to the indictment, Newmark controlled businesses called Estate
Planning Advisors, Ben Consulting and Financial Funding Services that
ran out of an office in Havertown. Wight worked for him.
Wight and Newmark sold financial products such as tax-deferred annuities,
including one that purported to provide a gift to a charitable organization,
tax benefits and an income stream to elderly people with substantial
wealth.
In the summer of 2001, Newmark and Wight met with two elderly people,
who are identified only as "AW" and "TW" in the indictment,
to persuade them to transfer millions of dollars to a Tennessee corporation
purported to be a charity in exchange for tax-deferred annuities.
The two defendants used letters and business cards to create the impression
that they were lawyers, or employed by lawyers.
Neither man is an attorney.
Morgan Stanley, the brokerage firm that handled many of AW and TW's assets,
urged them not to transfer the money.
But Newmark and Wight, representing themselves as attorneys for AW and
TW, eventually persuaded the victims, and then Morgan Stanley, to turn
over $3.5 million. As a result of the exchange, Newmark and his businesses
earned about $230,400 in commissions and Wight earned nearly $70,000.
In a civil suit filed in 2003 by the two seniors in federal court, Newmark
and Wight denied representing themselves as lawyers. Lloret said the
victims have recovered some of their money as a result of the suit, but
he wasn't sure how much.
Newmark and Wight are charged with mail and wire fraud. Newmark also
is charged with making a false statement under oath.
If convicted, Newmark faces up to 85 years in a prison and a fine of
up to $1.25 million. Wight faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison
and a $1 million fine.
Neither man was in custody this week. Lloret said pretrial detainment
in federal cases is generally reserved for people charged with violent
crimes.
This isn't the first time the two men have found themselves in legal
trouble. In 2004, Wight and Newmark's three businesses were among several
defendants named in a civil lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania attorney
general's office. That lawsuit said hundreds of Pennsylvanians, many
between the ages of 70 and 80, had been tricked into buying expensive
or unnecessary estate planning products.
Barbara Petito, deputy press secretary for the state attorney general's
office, said that case is ongoing. A judge issued a ruling barring the
defendants from various activities, including selling living trusts and
using laymen to offer legal advice.
By Brian Callaway Of The Morning Call
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