Chicago-area ‘adviser’ convicted in $10 million swindle

Shawn Baldwin found guilty on seven counts of wire fraud.

Shawn Baldwin, a Chicago area financial adviser who was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. in 2012, has been convicted by a federal court of swindling investors out of $10 million over more than a decade.

Mr. Baldwin was found guilty on seven counts of wire fraud, by which he victimized at least 15 investors and lenders between 2006 and 2017, according to a report in Crain’s Chicago Business. Each count of fraud could result in a 20-year jail penalty, the Justice Department said. Mr. Baldwin will seek a new trial, and will appeal the jury’s verdict if he doesn’t win a new trial, his attorney said.

(More: New York adviser pleads guilty to $11.5 million Ponzi scheme)

Mr. Baldwin headed firms in Chicago, including CMG Institutional Trading and AIA Group, which identified Mr. Baldwin at its website as an international financier and global investments adviser, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.

There is no record of Mr. Baldwin being registered as an adviser on the SEC’s website, and Finra’s BrokerCheck notes that Mr. Baldwin was suspended for failing “to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or to satisfactorily respond to a Finra request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.

The state of Illinois permanently prohibited Mr. Baldwin from offering securities or investment advice in 2013.

(More: RIA sentenced to 57-month prison term for theft barred by SEC)

“Evidence at trial revealed that Mr. Baldwin attempted to conceal the fraud scheme by furnishing victims with bogus account statements that misrepresented the value of their funds,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “He also lulled his victims by falsely maintaining that he was developing lucrative business deals and new contacts that would lead to profits from initial public stock offerings. In reality, Mr. Baldwin could not pay back investors because he had lost or spent their money.”