Barred former broker Anthony B. Liddle took the rare step of writing a 29-page letter to the judge in his wire fraud and money laundering case. The defense asked for a prison sentence of two years after Liddle pleaded guilty to the crimes in connection with a million-dollar scheme.
"I hurt so many people. I hurt and stole from people who I can honestly say I loved," Liddle said in the letter to Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson in the federal court of Madison, Wisconsin. "In my screwed up way of thinking, I convinced myself I was helping them, I was protecting them from more stress; but in reality I was only helping myself or delaying the inevitable end of my marriage and the loss of my business."
At length, Liddle apologized to victims and pledged to "pay everyone back the money I have taken." In the defense's sentencing memo, his attorney noted that he had advised Liddle against writing the "exhaustive letter" to Judge Peterson but it nonetheless "shows that he is well into the process of coming to terms with his crimes."
Peterson evidently did not agree with that assessment. The judge sentenced Liddle to eight years, a term four times the length of the defense's request, and ordered him to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution. Describing the 13 victims as "hard-working people who accumulated their wealth over a long period of time," Peterson called Liddle's actions "monstrous" in remarks at the June 30 sentencing hearing,
Liddle's term and a sentence of
Golden allegedly "crafted a self-supervising investment advisory business model into a criminal enterprise," a model of scheme that can be "repeated on a global scale," according to regulatory expert
"Liddle groomed his friends to fall for his bogus investment opportunities," Straney added in an email. "Imprisonment and restitution offer minimal comfort to those who suffered financially and emotionally."
Liddle's lawyer didn't respond to requests for comment.
During part of the time investigators say the fraud was occurring, Liddle worked for Western International Securities, which was purchased by Atria Wealth Solutions in a deal
Representatives for the other brokerage that employed him in that span, Landolt Securities, declined as well. Landolt permitted Liddle to resign last year after regulators opened an investigation, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.
Efforts to reach Golden or an attorney representing him were not successful. Golden, who ran businesses called Golden Wealth Management and Golden Wealth Property but wasn't registered with any brokerages for the past decade, pleaded guilty in New York state court in August to six felony charges including grand larceny, fraud and falsifying business records. He has paid more than $2.8 million in restitution to victims so far, according to prosecutors.
Between 2015 and 2019, Golden spent the money he collected from as many as 35 investors for purported real estate investments on a personal tax bill, a mansion in Bridgehampton, New York, and other land and properties in Vermont, according to investigators. Many of the victims were retirees or people who planned to exit their careers soon, with some losing their life savings, forced to sell assets or unable to pay for their advanced medical care, investigators said. Golden agreed to spin off two Vermont properties and pay victims another $3.5 million.
"New Yorkers deserve the peace of mind that the professionals handling their investments aren't swindling them," State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "Shaun Golden betrayed those who trusted him and stole millions out of their hard-earned life savings. His crimes upended lives and harmed vulnerable New Yorkers who had spent decades working so they could retire in dignity."
From June 2019 to August 2022, Liddle sold $1.9 million worth of investments he described as low risk to victims including a client who was a nursing home resident and another who is more than 80 years old, according to federal prosecutors and a Securities and Exchange Commission case
Liddle "violated the trust of the defrauded clients when he used their funds to finance his life, business, and fraudulent scheme," according
Liddle never invested the clients' money, investigators said. Rather, he steered the money for his own personal use and fraudulent "interest returns" on the various fake investments designed to convince them they were earning money in their accounts, according to the SEC. Former clients have filed at least five FINRA arbitration claims seeking combined damages of nearly $2.5 million, BrokerCheck shows. Liddle filed for bankruptcy protection last year, and federal prosecutors said in a restitution filing that they haven't identified any potential forfeiture assets.
"At this point I only have two goals in life," Liddle wrote in the letter to Judge Peterson. "I need to pay everyone back as quickly as possible and to be a person my kids can respect and love. The choices I made have put me in this position. If I have to work the rest of my life to make sure this money is returned, I will. I stole money and happiness away from people's retirement and I don't feel I should be able to retire until I have paid everything back."
