DANVERS INVESTMENT ADVISER FINED
Clients cheated out of $1M-plus
A Danvers investment adviser and the company he worked for is being fined after he was caught orchestrating a complex real estate scheme over the course of more than 25 years that cheated investors and clients out of at least $1 million.
Thomas T. Riquier, who worked out of Danvers, was charged Feb. 14, 2018, with violating the state securities laws through a 26-year con in connection with a Rowley property. His employer, United Planners Financial Services of America, was charged with failure to supervise its agent.
Under the terms of a consent order announced Monday, Riquier and United Planners will make offers of rescission and restitution to investors. Riquier will also be censured, permanently barred from registering with the Securities Division and Securities and Exchange Commission, and will pay a $50,000 fine, according to the Securities Division of Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.
“Unfortunately, this scheme went on for so long before it was brought to my office’s attention that many of the original investors and clients have died,” Galvin said. “It was my primary goal to ensure that the remaining elderly investors, who had not seen a penny returned on their now 27-year-old investment, receive restitution.”
United Planners, which also agreed to the terms of the order, must pay a $100,000 fine and hire an independent consultant to help them overhaul their supervisory policies. Neither Riquier nor the company could be reached for comment.
According to the administrative complaint filed by Galvin, Riquier solicited money from people, mostly elderly North Shore residents, and used the funds to purchase property in Rowley. Investors were told that the property would then be sold for a profit, but in reality, the investments were used to purchase property already owned by Riquier.
As of Feb. 14, 2018, the property had not been sold, had not been improved, and had not provided any returns on the money invested.
The complaint further alleged that Riquier solicited more than $800,000 in private loans from his clients, in violation of state and federal laws.