According to a recent article in Financial Advisor IQ, PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE (Paul McGonigle), a broker formerly with SII INVESTMENTS INC and LPL Financial, both in New Bedford, Massachusetts, who was barred from the industry in 2020, could now be facing decades in prison over allegations that he swindled his elderly clients.
On February 1, 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of investment advisor fraud and two counts of money laundering. McGonigle was previously arrested in June of 2021 and charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, from February of 2015, PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, allegedly defrauded his clients by causing unauthorized withdrawals from their annuities so that he could then invest it on their behalf. Prosecutors allege Paul McGonigle used the funds for his own personal and business expenses.
The Financial Advisor IQ article alleged that in order to get away with the unauthorized withdrawals scheme, PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE allegedly pretended to be his clients on calls with the annuity firms and signed their names on withdrawal forms.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Paul McGonigle faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for the investment advisor fraud charge; up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 for the money laundering charge; and up to 20 years in prison for the mail and wire fraud charges.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, FINRA permanently barred PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE from the industry with a start date of November 16, 2020, after he failed to submit documents as required for his request for a hearing with FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers. McGonigle was in the securities industry for 34 years and was listed with 6 firms, the most recent listed below:
02/14/2018 - 06/28/2019 LPL FINANCIAL LLC - NEW BEDFORD, MA
07/16/1998 - 02/14/2018 SII INVESTMENTS INC - NEW BEDFORD, MA
If you or an elderly loved on experienced financial losses due to the actions or recommendations of former broker, PAUL RICHARD MCGONIGLE, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at: 888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee basis, no cost to you if no recovery, and we represent our clients nationwide before FINRA.