A former broker and financial advisor charged with robbing a bank in South Carolina using a fake bomb was released on bond recently, after about a year-and-a-half in jail.
A judge granted Scott Charles Tunis, 45, release on $200,000 bond in late May with conditions, and the former advisor posted bond and was released in June, according to Charleston County Circuit Court and sheriff's office records.
Tunis was charged in the Dec. 2, 2022, robbery of a Truist Bank in Mount Pleasant, in which he was alleged to have used a hoax explosive device and fled on a bicycle before getting into an SUV.
Tunis's family had been experiencing financial stress when he allegedly robbed the bank, taking more than $8,700, using some of the cash to pay rent, The Post and Courier reported, citing comments made in the May bond hearing.
The former advisor, who is married with five children, admitted to police that he had robbed the bank with a fake bomb and told the officers where to locate the rest of the stolen funds, according to the Post and Courier article and a court affidavit that another publication posted.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck database shows Tunis, a formerly registered broker and investment advisor, faced a nearly $283,760 civil judgment or lien in 2015, and in 2016 disclosed a bankruptcy, which is listed as pending.
BrokerCheck shows he was registered as a broker with RBC Capital Markets for three years from 2014 to 2018, with Morgan Stanley from 2009 to 2014, with Citigroup Global Markets from 2008 to 2009 and with Wachovia Securities for six years before that — all in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
