Former Schwab, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley Advisor is Sentenced to Seven Years

• Shawn Edward Good has all the marks of a trusted advisor.
• His extensive qualifications and prestigious career history offered hid his real intent.
• Single mothers and retired police officers are among the victims of Good’s $7m scam.

Assigning a third party to manage your finances involves a degree of inherent risk. Those who checked out Shawn Edward Good would have found very few signs that he was likely to scam them. Instead, Good financed a lavish lifestyle on the back of the savings and retirement funds of unsuspecting victims from his local community.

Dazzling CWM Offices Used as Part of Ponzi Scheme

On Wednesday 24th May, the US Attorney’s Office sentenced Good to just over seven years in jail. The charges – that of money laundering and wire fraud – relate to his Ponzi scheme, which robbed at least 12 victims who had invested approximately $7,246,300. Instead of investing in land development or bonds, Good used the money to finance an extravagant lifestyle, including homes in North Carolina and Florida, as well as collecting luxury vehicles such as a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Boxster, and a Tesla Model 3.

Good followed the classic Ponzi scheme playbook by using cash from new investors to pay off those who had been in the scheme for a longer period of time. The fictitious returns initially appeared to be enough to keep the new funds coming in. What is more concerning, especially for those looking to find a reliable financial advisor, is the fact that the scheme ran so long, and that it did so due to Good’s convincing back story.

Shawn Edward Good started out as a financial advisor in 1990. His first position was at household name Charles Schwab & Co., and his move after 14 years of service would appear to reflect natural career progression rather than raise red flags about whether he could be trusted. Whilst working at Schwab, he passed examinations in Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law) and Series 7 (General Securities Representative).

In 2005, Good moved to a new position at Wells Fargo where he upgraded his State Law credentials by passing the Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law) examination. After another solid stint of eight years at Wells Fargo, Good moved on to Morgan Stanley, where he worked until 2022.

Those wondering how to spot a scammer might want to consider the red flags which were presented by Good’s day-to-day business practices. The State’s official report details how Good persuaded his victims to wire cash directly to his personal bank account. Given his career history and the promised returns, it’s possible to see how the trap worked.

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About the author: Justin Freeman

Justin is an active trader with more than 20-years’ industry experience of working for big banks and hedge funds. He has an inside knowledge of how the financial markets work, thanks to roles including trader on a $750m Event-Arbitrage desk and CRO and COO of hedge funds running a variety of strategies. From stat-arb and trend-following CTA to fixed-income relative value. Firm’s he has worked at include big banks like Citi, and prominent hedge funds including D. E. Shaw and Millennium Capital Management.

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