Former financial planner James A. Young III, 49, of Milton was arraigned Monday in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with two counts of wire fraud and three counts of failure to file tax returns over a three-year period.
The indictment was announced Monday by U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe in a news release issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Young is accused of soliciting clients and others to invest money in false "side investments while working as a financial planner between 2010 and 2014," the release said. The investments were primarily in real estate and natural resource rights.
The indictment also alleges that Young presented false documents to potential investors and falsely told them he was also personally invested to convince them to invest, according to the release. It further alleges that Young then pocketed the money, which totaled over $500,000, and used it for his own personal use.
Further, in some instances, Young is alleged to have used money obtained from investors to pay back other investors, fraudulently representing the funds were returns or interest on their investments in order to keep the scheme going, the release said. Young is accused of failing to file his federal tax returns for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years’ imprisonment, the release said. The maximum penalty for failure to file tax returns is one year imprisonment.
A trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 3, at 9 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton financial planner indicted for fraud, tax evasion