Former Ohio-based LPL Financial Broker Thomas H. Caniford has pled guilty to 135 counts relating to securities fraud and theft.
Last August, Meyer Wilson announced our investigation into misconduct allegations surrounding former LPL Financial Broker Thomas H. Caniford (CRD #1049021) of North Canton, Ohio. Caniford had been accused of selling securities to his customers that were not offered, held, or sold through LPL, who fired him in February 2015. Just a few months later, FINRA barred him from working as a broker for reason of failing to respond to their requests for information.
In September 2015, Caniford was indicted in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas on 135 criminal counts of securities fraud and theft-related charges. Today it was announced that Caniford pled guilty to 19 counts of securities fraud, 72 counts of publishing false investment statements, 20 counts of theft, six counts of theft from the elderly, and 18 counts of selling unregistered securities.According to the State, Caniford compelled his clients to invest in Fundcap Growth Portfolio, a hedge fund in which he was a general partner. He solicited his customers by claiming the hedge fund would be stable enough to offset market losses. Ultimately, 34 of Caniford’s customers ended up losing near half a million dollars.
Allegedly, Caniford was able to perpetuate his scheme by sending his clients fraudulent investment statements, as well as having third party trust companies administer self-directed IRAs years after he misappropriated his customer’s money for his own use – including to pay back earlier investors.
According to Andrea Seidt, Ohio Securities Commissioner, “Ohio investors should be cautious when investing in unregistered offerings… and should refrain from relying on statements provided for self-directed IRAs without independent verification of value.”
If you invested with Caniford and suffered financial loss, get in touch with the investment fraud lawyers at Meyer Wilson today. We may be able to help you recover your losses. We have extensive experience with these cases, so call us for a free review – we won’t charge you unless we win your case.
