The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an order on Friday permanently barring from the industry a former Raymond James Financial Services and Alliance Global Partners broker who was charged with defrauding at least 100 clients.
As part of the order, Michael Francis Shillin, 32, of Appleton, Wisconsin, is barred from associating with any broker, dealer, investment advisor, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock.
From August 2014 through October 2020, Shillin was an investment advisor representative and a registered representative with various SEC-registered investment advisors and broker-dealers. He was also the majority owner and managing member of Shillin Wealth Management, according to the SEC.
Raymond James and AGP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
The SEC's Complaint
On Nov. 18, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin entered a partial judgment against Shillin in a civil action that was filed by the SEC on Sept. 23, charging him with defrauding at least 100 clients.
According to the SEC's complaint, Shillin, while acting as an advisor, fabricated documents and made misrepresentations to clients, many of whom were older adults. As alleged, Shillin misrepresented that certain clients had successfully subscribed for IPO or pre-IPO shares in high-profile companies when they had not, and lied to clients about the true value of their investment portfolios.
Shillin encouraged several clients to roll over their existing life insurance policies into new policies, causing certain clients to sell securities to pay premiums for policies that were non-existent or had far fewer benefits than Shillin claimed, the SEC alleged.
