A former Virginia Beach, Va., broker who hosted a syndicated radio show will spend 35 years behind bars for his role in a nationwide investment scheme that bilked hundreds of investors out of more than $25 million, according to the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Virginia.
Daryl Bank, 51, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson yesterday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, selling unregistered securities, securities fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney said.
Bank, who was barred in 2010 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for allegedly misappropriating client funds and providing false information and testimony, created an investment company shortly thereafter called Dominion Private Client Group (Dominion), and continued to sell unregistered securities on his own and through insurance salesmen across the country, court documents said. The business was based in the Tidewater area of Virginia and Port St. Lucie.
The court said from about January 2012 through July 2017, Bank and co-conspirators—including his attorney, Billy Seabolt, 56, of Williamsburg; corporate executive Raeann Gibson, 49, of Florida; and salesman Roger Hudspeth, 52, of Chesapeake—duped more than 300 hundred investors, most of whom were elderly, by convincing them to invest in companies he owned and controlled.
Bank directed the co-conspirators to steal significant portions of investment contributions to fund their criminal enterprise and his lavish lifestyle, the court said. It added that the conspirators made material misrepresentations and omissions to sell illiquid, highly speculative investment vehicles. As a result, investors drained their 401(k) and other retirement accounts to invest in Bank’s investments.
The investors had no knowledge that Bank immediately transferred 20% to 70% of their funds to other companies that he controlled in the form of purported “fees,” much of which he ultimately spent on luxury and designer goods. In the end, the investors lost more than $25 million, the court said.
Bank financial services career began in 1996 at Dean Witter Reynolds in New York in 1996, according to his BrokerCheck profile. He also worked at UBS In Weehawken, NJ, and at the time he was barred, he had been with Capital Securities Management in Virginia Beach. Bank also authored a book titled “Successonomics” and hosted a syndicated radio show called “Getting Your Financial House in Order.”
Bank’s co-conspirators also received prison sentences. Seabolt was sentenced on September 15 to 10 years in prison on multiple conspiracy, mail fraud, and sale of unregistered securities charges. Gibson pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in February 2020. Hudspeth pleaded guilty to investment advisor fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to over 12 years in prison in May 2018.
Raj Parekh, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said the financial harm that Banks and his co-conspirators caused to each victim “is heartbreaking, and the emotional harm they inflicted is incalculable.”
“Driven by their voracious greed, the defendants preyed on the elderly and exploited the trust of vulnerable victims by robbing them of their hard-earned retirement funds and lifelong savings meant for their families,” he said, adding that the sentences imposed “reflect the enormous scale and scope of this securities fraud scheme and send a strong message that those who commit these devastating financial crimes will face significant consequences in our courts.”