A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Wisconsin-based financial advisor last week to seven years in federal prison.
Michael Shillin, 33, formerly of Eau Claire, orchestrated a scheme to defraud his clients and commit bank fraud. He pled guilty to the charges on May 23, 2022.
“Shillin then married while in custody, but an attempt to invoke spousal privilege was denied.”
Fired earlier from Raymond James, Shillin resigned from Alliance Global Partners in October 2020 while under investigation for creating and altering fraudulent documents and emails, and 37 complaints were filed against him in less than two years since (16 pending and 21 resolved according to FINRA).
The court forbade Shillin from traveling outside of Wisconsin, yet he vacationed on the island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, violating the terms of his pre-trial release. He was remanded into custody upon his return in April 2022.
Shillin then married while in custody, but an attempt to invoke spousal privilege was denied, according to local paper Leader-Telegram.
He worked as a financial advisor with clients throughout Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley and pled guilty to a three-part wire fraud scheme in which he:
- Misled his clients by telling them that they owned shares of pre-IPO stock in high-profile companies such as Space-X and Palantir;
- Misled his clients into believing they had long-term care insurance policies when they did not; and
- Misled his clients into believing they were eligible for tax benefits when they were not. As the scheme unraveled, Shillin used fraudulent collateral to obtain two bank loans in the aggregate amount of $462,000 to continue the scheme.
‘Pretty Horrifying Crime’
At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson emphasized the need to impose a sentence for his “pretty horrifying crime” that reflected the suffering Shillin inflicted on his victims. Based on the record at sentencing, Peterson called Shillin “resolutely dishonest” and a “very selfish person.”
He rejected Shillin’s argument that Shillin lied in a misguided attempt to make his clients feel good but instead stated that he “lied to make [himself] feel good.” Peterson noted that the victims should not feel bad about being defrauded because they were defrauded by a “highly skilled manipulator” who had “vast experience in deceit.”
The FBI, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the Eau Claire and Altoona Police Departments participated in the investigation.
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With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
