I am committed to doing my best to search for the missing assets.”Īll information pertaining to the complaint and claims reports can be found on the receivership site. Our findings were reported to law enforcement and on the morning of June 10, 2023, Higgins was arrested and taken into custody by federal agents. “In addition, we obtained evidence that Higgins has been selling precious metals. We also discovered some foreign currency and rare coins hidden under the cushion of a love seat in his bedroom. We discovered approximately 36 ounces of gold hidden in the ceiling of his basement. “On Friday, JI engaged a team of private investigators and metal detectors to search Higgins’ home. On the FSD receivership website, court appointed receiver Kelly Crawford has released details of the investigation and has posted an announcement to claimants, revealing the further extent of Higgins’ deceit. When accountants from Baker Tilly attended the FSD vaults for an inventory check, they discovered 380,000 silver American Eagle coins instead of the 1.2 million they expected and found only 1,936 of the 11,125 gold American Eagle coins that they anticipated to find securely stored.Īs Fortune reported, a document published on June 20 detailed the Baker Tilly storage visit and claimed, “In some instances, they found empty boxes at FSD with a customer’s or client’s name on it, or boxes that did not contain metal but instead held an ‘IOU’ of sorts - a piece of paper stating the quantity of metal that should have been stored there.” Mint doesn’t sell bullion directly to the public). silver American Eagle coins can currently be purchased for $76 each from a bullion coin dealer (the U.S. Most of the funds misappropriated by Higgins were in the form of American Eagle silver dollars, which are preferred by some investors because of their 99.9% fine silver composition and their authentic, minting rarity, per Fortune. I’m a Self-Made Millionaire: These Are Investments Everyone Should Avoid During an Economic Downturn When customers attempted to withdraw or move assets, they were given excuses and misled, per FinanceFeeds. Victims were told their investments were guaranteed and insured and received fake monthly investment reports claiming their assets were being securely stored by FSD. The CFTC investigation revealed that not only were precious metals not secured at FSD, but “stored” funds already owned by customers and those intended to purchase metals were misappropriated by the defendants. It was discovered that between 20, Higgins solicited and misappropriated the funds from approximately 200 customers in relation to a crooked silver leasing scheme known as the “Maximus Program,” which offered customers guaranteed monthly lease payments in exchange for the use of silver supposedly bought by Argent or silver owned by customers.Ĭustomers were promised that Argent would acquire silver on their behalf and FSD would hold their silver securely in its private depository. Keep reading or more info on the financial scam and what you can do to avoid something similar. Additionally, Higgins has been slapped with permanent trading and registration bans. The court’s Consent Order requires Higgins’ companies to pay restitution of $147.7 million - $112.7 to the victims and a $33 million civil monetary penalty.
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