DJ Florida Money Manager Faces Grand Theft Charges
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A Tallahassee financial adviser who at one time cleared trades through Raymond James Financial Inc. (RJF) and later Charles Schwab Corp. (SCH) faces a number of charges for allegedly bilking "probably 20 to 30" clients out of possibly millions of dollars through commissions, an investigator said.
Police executing a warrant arrested Ramona MacKinnon, 48 years old, at her Florida home Thursday morning, Brian Balser, a detective with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, said.
Representatives from both Raymond James and Schwab said MacKinnon was never an employee. Instead, she made trades through the companies as an independent adviser. MacKinnon was charged with forgery, grand theft and exploitation of the elderly for siphoning about $474,000 in eight months from the life savings of a Florida widow through commissions from ultimately unsuccessful day trading.
The 77-year-old woman's savings at one time stood at about $750,000, Balser said.
"(MacKinnon) can be very personable," Balser said by telephone from his office in Tallahassee. "She relied on that to justify what she was doing to people who didn't understand margin trading and things like that. She took advantage of the financial naiveté of the people."
Attempts to reach MacKinnon for comment were unsuccessful.
Balser declined to say exactly how many claims of wrongdoing are being investigated.
"I think we're looking at millions (of dollars)," he said. The sheriff's office plans to turn the case over to the state's epartment of law enforcement next week. A spokeswoman with Florida's Department of Banking and Finance said the agency
is working with federal and other state investigators on several claims. MacKinnon, who was released Thursday after posting bail of $4,000, was a stock trader in Florida from 1994 to 2000. Though still independent, she at some point began clearing trades through Raymond James Financial Services in Tallahassee.
The company severed its relationship with her in 2000 after her license as a registered investment adviser was terminated in 1999. However, she still had her brokerage license, a Raymond James spokesman said.
Later, she went to Schwab, where she altered her expired license so that it appeared up-to-date, according to her arrest record. A spokesman for San Francisco-based Schwab said he wasn't sure how many of the company's clients she had acted on behalf of. Schwab ended its relationship with her on March 1, 2001.
"We are, in a sense, victims as well," he said. The nation's largest discount-brokerage firm has relationships with about 6,000 independent investment advisers. Since the arrest, a number of people have come forward claiming that MacKinnon
mishandled their funds, Balser said.
Balser said the elderly women was using the funds in part to care for her disabled son.
-Tim Paradis; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 06-21-02
05:58 PM- - 05 58 PM EDT 06-21-02
