Jury selection underway for adviser accused of swindling

Jury selection has begun in the federal case of an Indiana County financial adviser accused of stealing $1.2 million from his investors to pay his mortgage and other expenses.

Bernard Parker, 55, who ran Parker Financial Services from his house in Indiana, was indicted in 2015 on charges of securities and mail fraud in ripping off 22 customers.

He was targeted by a federal grand jury and a related complaint brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The FBI, IRS and U.S. postal inspectors said that from 2008 through 2014, Mr. Parker enticed his customers to enter “contracts” in which they would buy “tax lien certificates” for real estate in Florida, Arizona and Colorado. Those contracts and other investment products he sold were not registered by the state of Pennsylvania or by the SEC, according to the charges.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Mr. Parker told customers that money placed in his contracts would be used for legitimate investments. Instead, according to the prosecution, he diverted funds for his own use to pay off his house and car, his fatherin-law’s medical bills, remodeling on his home and to make interest payments to earlier investors in his scheme to hide what he was doing.

According to the SEC, Mr. Parker admitted to his conduct when confronted by federal agents in 2015, but he has chosen to go to trial.

The case will be heard this week by a visiting judge, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who normally presides in the District of Columbia.