An Oxford, Conn., man was arrested by the FBI on charges of defrauding multiple investors out of several million dollars, the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced today.
Robert E. Lee Jr., 50, was arrested Tuesday and released on $250,000 bail on a federal criminal complaint charging him with fraud for conducting a Ponzi scheme. Lee was employed as a broker and financial adviser for various financial investment firms until July 2013, when he was terminated by his most recent employer, Rockwell Global Capital LLC, the complaint says. In August, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority permanently barred Lee from the securities industry.
Between January 2011 and March, Lee defrauded individuals by claiming that he was investing their money in various investment vehicles when, in fact, he used the money to pay off earlier investors and for his personal use, according to the FBI.
To conceal the scheme, Lee fabricated account statements and other documents, which he delivered to his victims, according to the FBI complaint. Victims lost several million dollars as a result of this scheme, the FBI said. No further details of the scheme were released.