SEC Bars Former Securities America Broker Over $1 Billion Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred former Securities America broker, Ronald Roach, who recently pled guilty to participating in a $1 billion Ponzi scheme.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred former Securities America broker, Ronald Roach, who recently pled guilty to participating in a $1 billion Ponzi scheme.
Roach spent 10 years at Securities America and was terminated in late October after pleading guilty to two felonies, including one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and one count of securities fraud. He held FINRA Series 6, 7, 63, and 65 licenses and had no other disclosures on his Brokercheck report.
According to court documents, between 2011 and 2018, Roach and his co-conspirator Joseph Bayliss raised approximately $1 billion from investors who believed that they were investing in a solar energy company that manufactured mobile solar generator units that could provide emergency power in the case of a power failure.
Roach, a certified public accountant, provided accounting and tax services to the solar energy company and prepared years of false financial statements to solicit investors, while Bayliss, a general contractor and electrician, prepared false reports certifying the existence and operating specifications of thousands of mobile solar generator units.
Roach and his co-conspirators used the fraudulent financial statements to hide that the company was using new investor funds to pay returns to earlier investors in classic Ponzi scheme fashion.
Roach and Bayliss are schedule to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on January 28, 2020. Roach faces a maximum 10 years in prison, and Bayliss faces a maximum of five years.
