Connecticut Broker, Stephen Blankenship, Charged by SEC for Stealing Investor Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Stephen B. Blankenship, of New Fairfield, Connecticut, and Deer Hill Financial Group, LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company under Blankenship’s control, with a scheme to defraud investors. The SEC’s Complaint alleges that, from at least 2002 through November 2011, Blankenship misappropriated at least $600,000 from at least 12 brokerage customers by falsely representing that he would invest their funds in securities through defendant Deer Hill.

The SEC alleges that until November 2011, Blankenship was a registered representative of Vanderbilt Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer based in Melville, New York. Blankenship lied to his brokerage customers and in many instances, lured customers to withdraw money from their brokerage accounts with promises that they could obtain a greater rate of return by investing through Deer Hill, according to the complaint. The complaint also alleges that Blankenship assured his customers that he would invest their money in established securities such as publicly traded mutual funds. When customers requested account statements, Blankenship provided the customers with fictitious statements from Deer Hill that falsely represented that Blankenship had invested their money in a variety of investments.

Blankenship never invested the customers’ money, according to the SEC’s Complaint. Blankenship used the customers’ money instead for personal expenses, business expenses and to make Ponzi-like payments to other customers who requested a return of all or part of their investment.

If you've experienced financial losses due to your investments with Stephen Blankenship or another broker/dealer, call Soreide Law Group for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses at: 888-760-6552, or you may visit our website and complete the online form at: https://www.securitieslawyer.com.