Securities fraud

Clients thought they were investing in real estate developments that would be flipped for profit.

Overall, the advisor defrauded at least nine clients out of $1 million, which he used to pay for tuition and mortgage payments, federal prosecutors say.

The Ponzi-like scheme used investor funds to pay other investors’ debts and cover personal expenses.

One topic under alleged examination is the monthly process through which prices of the benchmark’s futures contracts are calculated.

Miguel Ballestas was discharged from the firm after allegations of insider trading.

The funds paid for multiple vehicles, bedroom furniture and debts at casinos, prosecutors say.

An unregistered advisor with little investing experience raised $1.4 million from family and friends and then squandered the money on bad investments, federal prosecutors say.

The defrauded clients included the advisor’s own in-laws, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s and a debilitating stroke.

The claim alleged negligence, fraud and misrepresentation, according to the regulator.

One couple in their eighties invested more than $700,000 with the alleged schemers, representing almost the entirety of their cashed-out pension, regulators say.