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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Marc Dreier with raising at least $113 million from the sale of bogus promissory notes. According to the complaint, Dreier is the founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP. 

According to the complaint, since October 2008, Dreier allegedly sold fake promissory notes to three investors and a former client of Dreier LLP.

According to the complaint, Dreier created an elaborate charade designed to convince purchasers that the notes were genuine. He allegedly distributed phony financial statements and audit opinion letters of a reputable accounting firm, and recruited confederates to play the parts of representatives of legitimate companies involved in the transactions, even creating dummy email addresses and telephone numbers.

According to the complaint, Dreier has already admitted that the notes were counterfeit.  He also admitted that he fabricated documents, including financial statements and audit reports, to convince investors to buy the notes.   

An article written by Nathan Koppel, Ashby Jones, and Peter Lattman, in The Wall Street Journal, further alleges that Dreier was charged by the U.S. federal prosecutors for securities and wire fraud, involving hedge funds.  This is after being arrested in Toronto, Canada last week for impersonating another person to complete a business transaction. 

According to the article’s source, Mr. Dreier was attempting to secure multi-millions of dollars from Fortress Investment Group LLC, by pretending to be an Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan attorney.  Dreier allegedly intercepted the Fortress executive expecting to meet with the attorney, handed out business cards and signed the attorney’s name on documents.  When Fortress discovered the scam, they notified authorities.  Dreier was arrested, but has been released on bail. 

The common theme in all of these incidents involving Dreier is dishonesty.  He was never afraid to fudge details, make up documents, or pretend to be a totally different person.  And the same could be true of your broker.  They are trained to make a sale, and they’ll tell you what you want to hear.  And in some cases, they’ll even make things up altogether to get your money.  Don’t be the next baby boomer or senior citizen left without a nest egg.  Investigate your broker or potential broker before it’s too late.