Iowa insurance agent Edwin Pace was ordered to reimburse $302,000 to investors, and $30,000 in commissions to the state, plus costs and attorney’s fees, following a court ruling that he had sold fraudulent investments in customer-owned, coin operated telephones.
Judge Gary Kimes of the Fifth Judicial District in a case brought by the Iowa Insurance Division, the State’s Securities Bureau and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, found that Pace’s sales practices were unfair and deceptive and targeted older Iowans. Three other defendants in the case had entered into settlement agreements with the State prior to trial.
“The ruling by Judge Kimes is definitely a victory for Iowa’s elderly population,” stated Craig Goettsch, Superintendent of Securities for the Iowa Insurance Division. “Agents need to hear the underlying massage of this strong ruling. Deceptive sales practices against investors of any age will not be tolerated in our state.”
The announcement indicated that Pace wasn’t licensed to sell securities investments, but “used his status in the community as a licensed insurance agent to solicit investments from Iowans in a fraudulent payphone scheme.”
The bulletin warned of an increasing number of cases, nationwide, involving the sales of suspect investment schemes by insurance agents. “Lured by the promise of high commissions and easy access to potential investors, more and more insurance agents are becoming involved in the sale of unregistered securities and fraudulent investments,” the report stated.
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