MASSACHUSETTS BROKER, GREGG RENNIE, PLEADS GUILTY IN PONZI SCHEME

Gregg T. Rennie recently  pled guilty in U.S. District Court to 13 counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. He potentially faces decades in prison and fines in the millions of dollars.

In addition to restraining the defendant from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933; Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the District Court’s order froze the defendants’ assets. The order prohibited the defendant from soliciting, accepting, or depositing any money from investors and requires him to provide an accounting for investor funds.

The SEC’s filing alleged that, from early 2007 -2009, while working at an insurance and financial services agency in Providence and acting as an investment adviser, Rennie defrauded clients in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. According to the SEC’s complaint, Rennie told his clients that their money would be invested in risk-free “federal housing certificates” that paid up to 12% per year, tax free, and were offered by a real estate investment company based in Boston. When in fact, the complaint alleged that the investments were completely fictitious and that Rennie had no relationship with the real estate investment company whose name he used. According to the Commission’s filings, Rennie defrauded clients who were elderly, including one man who was 89 years old. The filings alleged that Rennie persuaded some clients to cash out their investments in annuities, resulting in substantial surrender charges, in order to invest in his fraudulent program. According to the complaint, Rennie used investor proceeds to pay personal expenses, and withdrew thousands of dollars in cash from the account where investor funds were sent.