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Investment Advisor Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Clients, Funding Lavish Lifestyle

Investment Advisor Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Clients, Funding Lavish Lifestyle

Following an IRS investigation, a former investment advisor has pled guilty to defrauding clients in a bid to fund his lavish lifestyle.

The IRS Criminal Investigation division discovered that Shawn Edward Good, of Wilmington, NC, accepted investments totaling $7,246,300 from at least 12 victims between 2012 and 2022. 

Good executed a scheme to obtain money through investment fraud, commonly known as a Ponzi scheme. Specifically, Good solicited investments from business clients and others for purported real estate projects and tax-free municipal bonds, touting these opportunities as low-risk investments that would pay returns of between 6% and 10% over three- or six-month terms.

Good, who was employed by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC in Wilmington, used the funds for a wide variety of luxury purchases, including, according to the IRS, "his Wilmington residence; a condominium in Florida; luxury vehicles including a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Boxster, a Tesla Model 3, an Alpha Romeo Stelvio, and a Lexus RX350; fine dining; and vacations to Paris, France; Cinca Terra, Italy; Jackson, Wyoming; Las Vegas, Nevada; and other destinations."

Good also used some of the unwitting investors' money to make payments to prior investors, lending an air of credibility to his long-running fraud scheme. 

Donald "Trey" Eakins, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte field office, shared his thoughts on Good's plea, saying:

"High yield investment fraud schemes are designed to appeal to people's hope that 'you can get something for nothing,' often resulting in the total loss of the investment Be assured that IRS Criminal Investigation, together with our partners at North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the U.S. Attorney's Office, will hold those who engage in similar behavior fully accountable."

Good's sentencing date has not yet been announced at the time of publication.

What do you think about Good's plea?

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Rebekah Barton

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