Ex-Ameriprise broker charged with bilking clients of $350K to pay his mortgage, travel
Also accused of failing to tell clients he was not registered to sell securities
By Sue Asci
September 29, 2009
A former Ameriprise broker was charged yesterday with stealing nearly $350,000 from six former clients.
Shane Selewach, 46, of Hyannis, Mass., pleaded not guilty to charges that he misappropriated funds from investors after being charged in Barnstable (Mass.) District Court.
Mr. Selewach allegedly told clients that he would invest their assets in hedge funds or real estate strategies from July 2005 to November 2008, according to the complaint filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office.
Instead of making these investments, he allegedly deposited the money in various accounts that he controlled and used the money for his mortgage payments and international travel.
He also failed to tell the investors that he was not a registered securities broker, the complaint said.
Mr. Selewach had joined what is now Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. in 1997 and was first registered as a general securities representative with the firm that year. Following an investigation by Ameriprise that followed complaints from clients, Mr. Selewach's employment and registration were terminated in April 2006, according to documents filed by the Securities Division.
As the result of a 2007 investigation by the Securities Division that Mr. Selewach misappropriated clients' funds, it suspended his registration with Massachusetts for three years and fined him $5,000.
They also turned the case over to the attorney general's office.
Seth G. Roman, an attorney with Wilkins and DeYoung, who is representing Mr. Selewach, was not immediately available for comment.
Ameriprise has no comment on the case, said spokesman Benjamin Pratt.
By Sue Asci
September 29, 2009
A former Ameriprise broker was charged yesterday with stealing nearly $350,000 from six former clients.
Shane Selewach, 46, of Hyannis, Mass., pleaded not guilty to charges that he misappropriated funds from investors after being charged in Barnstable (Mass.) District Court.
Mr. Selewach allegedly told clients that he would invest their assets in hedge funds or real estate strategies from July 2005 to November 2008, according to the complaint filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office.
Instead of making these investments, he allegedly deposited the money in various accounts that he controlled and used the money for his mortgage payments and international travel.
He also failed to tell the investors that he was not a registered securities broker, the complaint said.
Mr. Selewach had joined what is now Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. in 1997 and was first registered as a general securities representative with the firm that year. Following an investigation by Ameriprise that followed complaints from clients, Mr. Selewach's employment and registration were terminated in April 2006, according to documents filed by the Securities Division.
As the result of a 2007 investigation by the Securities Division that Mr. Selewach misappropriated clients' funds, it suspended his registration with Massachusetts for three years and fined him $5,000.
They also turned the case over to the attorney general's office.
Seth G. Roman, an attorney with Wilkins and DeYoung, who is representing Mr. Selewach, was not immediately available for comment.
Ameriprise has no comment on the case, said spokesman Benjamin Pratt.
