A Massachusetts man is accused of selling more than $2.5 million in unregistered securities to investors in the state, according to a complaint filed by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.
According to the complaint, Ronald J. Leger Jr., who has worked as a public accountant since 1987, opened a company called New England Alternative Investments to sell “life settlements” in 2010, beyond what he was legally allowed to do. Life settlements are an investment product that sell unwanted life insurance policies to other buyers for a sum that is less than the value of the policy itself (the new buyers must continue to pay the premiums on the policies).
According to Galvin, Leger sold millions of dollars of these investments while earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions. According to the complaint, Leger never registered himself or his companies with the Massachusetts Securities Division.
Leger offered investors life settlement options through Life Partners Inc., a Texas-based company. According to the complaint, in 2014 the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled that LPI owed $46.9 million “in civil penalties and restitution for violations of federal securities laws”; the company subsequently filed for bankruptcy.
According to the complaint, Galvin is seeking an administrative fine, and an order for Leger to “disgorge all profits” and offer restitution for investors affected by his actions.
Calls to Leger's office and cellphone were not immediately returned.
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