SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Investment Professional Charged with Misappropriating Client Funds

Litigation Release No. 25245 / October 25, 2021

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marcus Boggs, No. 19-cv-5672 (N.D. Ill. filed August 23, 2019)

United States v. Marcus Boggs, No. 19-cr-659 (N.D. Ill. filed August 20, 2019)

On October 22, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against defendant Marcus Boggs, whom the SEC previously charged with stealing more than $1.7 million from at least three of his investment advisory clients.

The SEC's complaint was filed on August 23, 2019 in federal district court in Chicago, Illinois. The complaint alleged that Boggs, without his clients' knowledge or authorization, misappropriated his clients' money by selling securities in their advisory accounts and then transferring the proceeds to his personal credit card account. The complaint further alleged that from 2016 to 2018, Boggs made more than 200 illegal transfers from three advisory clients' accounts to his personal credit card account.

Boggs consented to entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and ordering him to pay disgorgement in the amount of $1,719,493, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $195,458, for a total of $1,914,951, which shall be deemed satisfied by the restitution order entered against Boggs in the criminal case filed against him under United States v. Marcus Boggs, No. 19-cr-659 (N.D. Ill. filed August 20, 2019). On August 18, 2021, the court in the criminal case sentenced Boggs to 42 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $3,085,256.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by BeLinda Mathie and Ann Tushaus and supervised by Steven Klawans of the SEC's Chicago Regional Office. The SEC's litigation was led by Benjamin Hanauer. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.