As discussed here, Joshua Gould was accused by one of his customers of having stolen $700,000 from the customer's Woodbury Financial Services brokerage account during Gould's employment at the firm. Regulatory documents indicated that Gould admitted to Woodbury that he had stolen the customer's money, which led to his termination on November 2, 2010. Meyer Wilson has been actively investigating both Joshua D. Gould and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. in order to recover losses on behalf of defrauded investors.
A recent development in the case should aid in this goal. Last week, Joshua Gould pled guilty to embezzling approximately $5 million from numerous individuals, including several of his Woodbury brokerage clients ("Guilty Pleas in Multi Million Dollar Securities Fraud," CBS St. Louis, April 29, 2011). David Rubin, of Coral Mortgage Bankers Corporation, also pled guilty to the investment fraud.
Both men must now forfeit all ill-gotten gains. The illegally obtained funds will be returned to the government, and will likely be used to pay restitution to investors who suffered losses from the investment fraud. According to the article, Gould and Rubin - over the course of a three-and-a-half-year period - embezzled $1,500,000 from a retired client.
The two men solicited the funds from the client with promises of regular interest payments on money that would be kept untouched in a secure trust account. Instead of using the money as collateral for Coral's operations as they claimed, Gould and Rubin stole the money and used it for operating expenses, personal purchases, and to launch several businesses.
Gould and Rubin also made false representations to the client, which included providing him with falsified account statements. In addition to the investment fraud perpetrated with Rubin, Gould admitted to embezzling $3,500,000 from several Woodbury brokerage clients and numerous beneficiaries of the RARJI Trust. The majority of the defrauded investors were retired senior citizens.
Gould used the stolen funds to finance business start-ups, fund his personal lifestyle, and make Ponzi-style payments to other clients whose accounts he had already liquidated. Gould's plea may strengthen our case against Woodbury. As his employer, Woodbury had a duty to supervise Gould's activities. If that duty was not adequately met, Woodbury may be held liable for compensating investors who suffered losses from Gould's securities fraud.
If you would like to learn more about our firm's investigation into this matter, or if you would like to learn how we may be able to recover losses suffered as a result of this fraud, please call our office toll-free and ask to speak directly to the firm's Managing Partner, Attorney David P. Meyer. You may also fill out the online form on our website and we will respond promptly. Gould's sentencing date has been scheduled for July 22, 2011.
