Former Advisor Receives Nearly 22 Years in Prison Over Fake-Annuity Scheme

Posted on August 23rd, 2022 at 2:37 PM
Former Advisor Receives Nearly 22 Years in Prison Over Fake-Annuity Scheme

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law.

A former Ohio-based advisor has received a 22-year prison sentence after being convicted of misappropriating at least $9.3 million from clients.

The former advisor, Raymond Erker, was sentenced to 262 months in prison for his role in operating an annuities-related Ponzi scheme. According to prosecutors, Erker misappropriated $9.37 million from nearly 54 clients between January 2013 and July 2018. Erker sold purported investments to clients, which he misrepresented as annuities and senior secured notes with no risk of loss and a guaranteed rate of return. However, Erker improperly siphoned the funds to alternative entities under his control as well as to personal bank accounts.

Erker additionally failed to inform his clients that he possessed ownership interests in the entities receiving income from the purported investments. Furthermore, Erker made Ponzi-style payments to earlier investors, which he categorized as rates of return and interest, according to prosecutors. Erker “misled, cheated and conned over fifty victims, many of them elderly, into trusting him with their life savings and hard-earned retirement funds, all for guaranteed rates of return and low-risk investments that were fabricated”, according to Ohio First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler. According to BrokerCheck, Erker has not been registered as an advisor since his time at SageGuard Financial concluded in 2019.

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, advisors, law

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

You were most helpful with my FINRA deposition. You are a good lawyer and a good person.

Dan B.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

September 5, 2025
Merrill Lynch Advisor Faces FINRA Disciplinary Action for Refusing to Cooperate with Investigation

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has initiated disciplinary proceedings against former Merrill Lynch broker Ali F. Chehab of Portland, Oregon. According to ThinkAdvisor, FINRA alleges that he refused to cooperate in an investigation into potential misconduct, including unauthorized trading and material misrepresentati...

September 4, 2025
Wells Fargo Ties $2,000 Bonus to Non-Solicitation Clause, Raising Advisor Concerns

Wells Fargo & Co. recently issued a $2,000 bank-wide award to its 215,000 employees, following the Federal Reserve’s June decision to lift its asset growth restrictions.

September 3, 2025
Kansas City Advisory Firms Agree to $25.5 Million Settlement Over No-Poach Allegations

Mariner Wealth Advisors, along with two other Kansas City-area firms, has agreed to a $25.5 million class action settlement over allegations that they illegally agreed not to solicit each other’s advisors.