Former Merrill Lynch Adviser Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Clients
A former Merrill Lynch financial adviser has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for swindling more than $3 million from clients.
Former Merrill Lynch financial adviser, Marcus Boggs, has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for swindling more than $3 million from clients, including a man who received compensation from the State of Illinois in a wrongful conviction settlement.
Boggs, who was arrested in August 2019 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago prior to boarding an international flight, pled guilty earlier this year to one count of wire fraud.
According to the Department of Justice, Boggs spent more than $3 million of his clients’ funds over a 10-year period to pay his personal credit cards and the mortgage on his residence. His credit card purchases included international vacations, expensive dinners at restaurants, and rent for multiple apartments in Chicago.
One of the defrauded clients was wrongfully imprisoned for several years after being convicted of a 1991 sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder of a teenage girl. After DNA testing exonerated the client and led to his release from prison, he received approximately $5 million from the State of Illinois and retained Boggs to manage and invest some of the money. Boggs instead stole approximately $800,000 of the client’s funds, the DOJ said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that he misappropriated his clients’ money by selling securities in their advisory accounts and then transferring the proceeds to his personal credit card account. Boggs made more than 200 illegal transfers from three clients’ accounts to pay for his credit card purchases.
“Boggs presented himself as a successful investment adviser and financial services professional,” the SEC said when they filed their civil complaint. “He managed more than $40 million in assets held by more than 70 clients. Boggs was an active member of Chicago’s philanthropic community, and regularly attended a variety of fundraising events for prominent Chicago cultural institutions. This allowed Boggs to present himself as a socially-minded financial professional, mingle with wealthy individuals, and have a platform for meeting potential clients.”
In addition to the 36-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland ordered Boggs to pay more than $3.08 million in restitution to the victims.
“Defendant had a personal relationship with his clients and knew what they hoped to achieve with their life savings and retirement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Mitchell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “But that didn’t stop him from stealing their hard-earned money.”
According to his BrokerCheck profile, Boggs spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch before being fired in December 2018 for “withdrawing funds from client accounts without their knowledge or approval.” He was barred by FINRA in mid-2019 for failing to respond to their requests for information, and by the SEC for defrauding his clients.
