The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against American Pension Services Inc., a third-party administrator of retirement plans based in Utah and its founder Curtis L. DeYoung. The regulator says that they caused clients to lose about $22 million in risky investments involving certain business ventures. American Pension Services is now under receivership.
The securities scam allegedly goes back at least to 2005. Customers with retirement accounts containing non-traditional assets usually not found via IRA custodians, such as traditional (401)K retirement plans, were targeted. The Commission says that APS and DeYoung solicited customers to set up self-directed IRA accounts with third party administrator. DeYoung purportedly said this was “genuine self-direction” for investors seeking other options besides stocks, mutual funds, and bonds.
These clients had to fill out IRS Form 5305-A, which say that a third-party administrator doesn’t have discretionary authority over assets and it is up to the depositor to direct the assets’ investments. Although clients’ funds were kept at a bank in two master trust accounts, the complaint claims that APS controlled the money and mixed clients’ money together.
Even though APS was not allowed to direct client trades, DeYoung is said to have used letters with forged signatures that gave him permission to invest for clients. The SEC believes that clients were sent inaccurate account statements in 2012 and 2013, and some were told that at the end of 2012 master trust accounts contained $45.9 million when really that balance was at around $23.8 million. (In 2013, account statements noted that these accounts held $57.3 million when really they contained $22.7 million.) Client fees were calculated according to the inflated figures in customer account statements.
Meantime, customer funds were placed in risky business ventures involving friends of DeYoung. Even after a friend defaulted on promissory notes that DeYoung is said to have recommended to investors, he allegedly kept referring APS clients and their money to that person until a year ago. He also caused customers to think that their investments were profitable. DeYoung is accused of giving his friend the cash, which was issued to clients as bogus principal payments and interest.
Some of these business ventures failed or went bankrupt, allegedly causing APS clients to suffer losses. Among the investments are entities that are currently subject of SEC enforcement cases. SEC Salt Lake Regional Office director Karen Martinez, because of the alleged misconduct, the retirement security for thousands of investors was “jeopardized.”
If you are a senior investor, a retiree, or another customer who sustained losses because of the negligence of your investment representative, contact our securities lawyers today. Your initial case assessment is free.
SEC hits American Pension Services and its founder with fraud charges, Investment News, April 30, 2014
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