SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Corporations Commissioner Demetrios A. Boutris, in cooperation with the Riverside County District Attorney's office, today announced the arrest of repeat offender Philip Gardner in Newport Beach, Calif., for offering fraudulent investments in ATMs.
"We've sent him to prison before and we plan to send him again and again until he stops defrauding the public," Boutris said. "The California Department of Corporations wants both the public and the con artists to understand that we are keeping close watch on previous offenders. The best investor is an informed investor. We encourage investors to call us to verify whether their broker is in good standing."
Gardner is charged with 21 counts of illegally and fraudulently selling securities as a result of selling more than $1 million in investments through The ATM Store. Senior citizens and other vulnerable targets were solicited through investment opportunity shows and newspaper ads promising returns of 40 percent to 100 percent. Investor funds were then diverted for personal use, ATM machines were not purchased or placed as promised, and most investors lost their entire investment.
Gardner has a record of securities law violations extending nearly 30 years. In 1988, the Department and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office charged Gardner with 28 counts of fraudulent sales of wind farm and gold mine investments and grand theft. Gardner pled guilty to seven felony counts and spent four years in jail.
The Department of Corporations is a licensing and regulatory agency reporting to Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Secretary Maria Contreras-Sweet and California Gov. Gray Davis. It is responsible for the regulation of securities, franchises, off-exchange commodities, investment and financial services, independent escrows, consumer and commercial finance lending, and residential mortgage lending.
Additional information or a complaint form can be obtained from the Department of Corporations' web site at www.corp.ca.gov.
