JOHN GREG SCHMIDT, Former Wells Fargo Advisor, Charged by SEC in $1.6 Million Scheme

JOHN GREG SCHMIDT (Also known as: GREG SCHMIDT, JOHN GREGORY SCHMIDT) CRD#: 708094, a 67 year-old former investment advisor from Wells Fargo Advisors Financial LLC, of Dayton, Ohio, allegedly misappropriated over $1.6 million from his clients, many elderly, from at least 2003 through 2017, according to an SEC complaint. The complaint was filed in federal district court in the Southern District of Ohio.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called Schmidt’s actions a “long-running scheme.” The complaint filed by the SEC also said Schmidt’s scheme was the classic robbing Peter to pay Paul.
On March 5, 2018, JOHN GREG SCHMIDT was barred by FINRA from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm. Allegedly, Schmidt failed to respond to FINRA request for information.
There is a civil filing seeking a jury trial in which the SEC is alleging Schmidt sold securities of clients and secretly transferred over $1 million to 10 of his other clients to cover-up the shortages in their accounts. The SEC alleges Schmidt attempted to cover unauthorized sales and withdrawals from variable annuities held by clients using fraudulent letters of authorization and phony account statements.
The SEC complaint also alleges that Schmidt lied repeatedly to his client regarding their accounts.  Many of the victims were elderly with little financial knowledge, and at least five clients passed away during the fraud and several suffered from dementia or Alzheimer’s.  It is alleged Schmidt received over $230,000 in commissions.
According to FINRA’S BrokerCheck, Schmidt had 9 Disclosures on his FINRA report, 5 were Customer Disputes.  JOHN GREG SCHMIDT was in the securities industry for 37 years and was listed with 9 firms, the 2 most recent listed below:
12/05/2006 - 11/07/2017 WELLS FARGO ADVISORS FINANCIAL NETWORK, LLC - DAYTON, OH
05/06/2002 - 12/07/2006  STIFEL, NICOLAUS & COMPANY INC - DAYTON, OH
If you or an elderly family member were victims of this alleged scam allegedly perpetrated by JOHN GREG SCHMIDT formerly of Wells Fargo and Stifel Nicolaus of Dayton, Ohio, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide before FINRA on a contingency fee basis—no fee if no recovery.