A former financial advisor in Warfordsburg, Pa., has been arrested for bilking 43 clients out of more than $3 million by misrepresenting the types of investments he was making, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Robert G. Bard has been indicted on 21 criminal counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI. He was arrested Thursday.
Bard operated Vision Specialist Group in Pennsylvania and West Virginia between December 2004 and August 2009. During that time, he created false accounts to cover the fact that he lost clients' money in risky and speculative investments like penny stocks and other volatile securities, according to U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith.
He also failed to disclose to clients that he was fired from his prior employment as a stock broker for forging customer signatures and that he filed for bankruptcy in July 2005. He portrayed himself as a deeply religious man who could be trusted with his clients' life savings, according to Smith.
Last November, the SEC issued an injunction against Bard and Vision Specialist Group from doing business, assessed a civil penalty of $2.5 million and ordered him to return $450,000 in profits that he had made.