Man headed to prison in fraud scam (TX)(Put your SS money here)

Star-Telegram ^ | May. 19, 2005 | Bill Miller

[Dubya]

DALLAS - Larry Tyler, the former securities salesman from Fort Worth who pleaded guilty last fall to defrauding nearly 500 mostly elderly clients, was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders also ordered Tyler, 51, to serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison and to pay $23.8 million in restitution to the people he scammed. He also ordered Tyler to report to prison by 2 p.m. June 19.

Tyler, stoic and dressed in a dark suit, was allowed to make a statement before Sanders rendered the sentence.

"I am deeply sorry that my clients lost money based on my advice," he said.

Mike Quilling, the court-appointed receiver of Tyler's company, Advanced Financial Services, said after the sentencing that it is unlikely Tyler will be able to pay back any of the money because all of his assets have been liquidated.

But, Quilling, a Dallas lawyer, said that the victims might get back a third of investments through a fund being built through the liquidation of Trade Partners, Inc., a Michigan-based company that Tyler worked with to orchestrate his scheme.

"The way we look at it, if you get a third of your money back, we've done our job," Quilling said.

Tyler pleaded guilty last September to securities and wire fraud on the day his trial was scheduled to begin in Sanders' court. He was indicted five months earlier.

According to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Texas, Tyler misled investors and diverted their money for his own use.

Lee Ann Held, a special agent for the FBI, testified during the sentencing hearing that SEC officials asked her agency to take over the case which was rapidly expanding.

Held said she interviewed more than 100 victims who all told the same story: Tyler claimed he was selling them federally insured certificates of deposit with fixed rates of return of about 8 to 10 percent.

But the investments were actually viatical settlements -- fractional interests in life insurance policies, which allow the terminally ill to sell their death benefits at a discount and spend the money while they're alive. Although the investments may carry high yields, investors can't collect until the policyholder dies.

Held said the some of the victims were longtime clients of Tyler who trusted him. Others were responding to advertisements he placed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and magazines for senior citizens.

"Many of these people wanted to supplement their retirements, but they feared they would outlive their resources," Held said. "Some invested their life savings thinking they were buying CDs or something similar that was very safe."

She said that many of the victims were shocked and embarrassed by what happened, and now have only their Social Security benefits to cover living expenses.

"Mr. Tyler looked these people in the face and told them where their money would be, but he flat out lied," Held said. "Had they known the truth, they probably would have never invested with him." Bill Miller, (972) 263-4448 wmiller@star-telegram.com

[Rodney King]

(Put your SS money here)

What does this have to do with social security?

[Dubya]

In place of paying into SS and getting some benefits back.

Just get some good private investments similar to this one.

Then when time comes for help and the money has been missed used the tax payers can start bailing the people out who lost their money in private accounts. I have my SS and I want be around to have to bail out the ones who do lose.

If happen to be around and could help I would.

Not all people know how to invest.

Dub

[calex59]

I think he was refering to the fact that the scam involved older people, in effect he was saying the the con man was telling the older people to "put their SS money right here" presumably into the con man's hands.

[Rodney King]

In place of paying into SS and getting some benefits back. Just get some good private investments similar to this one. Then when time comes for help and the money has been missed used the tax payers can start bailing the people out who lost their money in private accounts. I have my SS and I want be around to have to bail out the ones who do lose. If happen to be around and could help I would. Not all people know how to invest.

As far as I know, there is not a single SS privatisation plan that would allow investments with crooked local brokers. All would be similar to large 401K plans with tight regulations. Learn a few facts, or go back to DU.

[Rodney King]

I think he was refering to the fact that the scam involved older people, in effect he was saying the the con man was telling the older people to "put their SS money right here" presumably into the con man's hands.

No, I think he is a DUmmie.

[Dubya]

OK Boss. LOL

[Snoopers-868th]

Boy did this guy get punished.

8 years and a few more free but under supervision for some $23 Million.

Sentencing for a white-collar crime is a crime.

Wonder if an employee had stolen $23 Million from his company if the sentence would be the same? I didn't even put in that he is to pay it back because it appears that it is accepted that he will not be able to.

[festus]

This guy should have everything liquidated to raise funds to pay for the fraud and if thats not enough he should be forced to sell his organs to....

[Dubya]

he should be forced to sell his organs to....

LOL

[kcvl]

Not all people know how to invest.

Most of those people were obviously elected to Congress and spent the SS money YEARS AGO on PET PROJECTS to get them RE-ELECTED!

[af_vet_1981]

Larry Tyler, the former securities salesman from Fort Worth who pleaded guilty last fall to defrauding nearly 500 mostly elderly clients, was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison. U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders also ordered Tyler, 51, to serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison and to pay $23.8 million in restitution to the people he scammed.

If the judge were seriously interested in restitution for the victims he would sentence the man to work now. He will hardly be able to feed himself at age 59 after 8 years in prison (and an early release won't help much).

[Dubya]

Most of those people were obviously elected to Congress and spent the SS money YEARS AGO on PET PROJECTS to get them RE-ELECTED!

True.

If the past and present congress, senate and president had left the money we paid in to SS there would be plenty of money in the SS fund.

Another reason no one should serve over two terms.

[Dubya]

There you go using common sense. :^)

[dakine]

TSP accounts...google it...

[Bonaparte]

"I am deeply sorry that my clients lost money based on my advice," he said.

When a liar and a thief is caught dead-to-rights and convicted -- and then makes a statement like this to a judge, you know you're dealing with a psychopath.

[Southack]

"Then when time comes for help and the money has been missed used the tax payers can start bailing the people out who lost their money in private accounts. I have my SS and I want be around to have to bail out the ones who do lose." - Resident Democrat

You must not be Black, because SS rips off Black men, and will continue to rip them off (and their families), until SS is privatized.

As Social Security stands today, you don't draw benefits for retirement until age 67, you see. But the average Black man dies at age 65.

So after working his whole life, getting taxed out the wazoo and paying into SS, the average Black man doesn't get one thin dime in retirement benefits from SS because he doesn't live long enough.

However, if you *PRIVATIZE* Social Security, then whatever is private is *yours*. You could even will that privatized SS money to your heirs, so that even if you die at age 65, at least your family gets your privatized portion of Social Security.

But without *PRIVATIZATION*, your Social Security retirement benefits (there are other forms of SS benefits, but they are a small portion of the total) stop when you die. And if you die before age 67, then your SS payments stop before they ever get started.

Thanks for playing, but all that money that you paid into SS goes to someone else...your family won't get it.

...unless it gets privatized first.

You see, the government can't play with your privatized SS funds. Those funds are yours, just like your bank account. You get to decide what to do that privatized SS money, and even if you die, at least your family gets the benefit of all that you paid in to SS.

[Bonaparte]

"... it appears that it is accepted that he will not be able to."

That's what they say, but they have no way of knowing what assets he has offshore or in numbered Swiss.

[Dubya]

You must be a nut.

[Southack]

I'm tiring of you, troll. If you can't behave, then you don't belong here.