A former East Bay financial advisor has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering related to an alleged $9.5 million investment fraud scheme. Edwin Emmett Lickiss, Jr., 77, is accused of operating this scheme from 1998 through September 2024, long after his broker's license was suspended in 2014 and subsequently lost entirely in 2016. The indictment was filed last Thursday, and made public today as Lickiss prepares for his initial court appearance in San Francisco.
Though stripped of his legal capacity to advise, Lickiss is alleged to have perpetuated his dealings, peddling illusory government and other types of bonds boasting returns upwards of 20 percent, claims that, if true, would undoubtedly sweeten any investor's portfolio, yet none of which had any existence outside of Lickiss's fabrications. With these promises, he managed to attract at least 50 victims across Northern California, Idaho, and states beyond, per details from the indictment obtained by the Department of Justice.
The investors, swayed by Lickiss's assertions, were handed fraudulent promissory notes supposed to reflect their investments in these phantom bonds, and were occasionally placated with so-called interest payments, which, in the quintessence of a Ponzi scheme, were merely the funds of incoming victims. The indictment further accuses Lickiss of pouring the ill-gotten gains into his personal expenditures, including lavish home renovations, travel, and assorted bills.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and officials from the FBI and IRS-CI announced the charges against Lickiss, who now stares down the prospect of considerable time in federal prison and hefty fines should the weight of evidence tip the scales towards a guilty verdict. The seriousness fastened to these allegations, illuminated through the gravity of potential sentences—20 years and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud, and 10 years plus another $250,000 fine for money laundering—reflects the profound violations against the trust vested in financial fiduciaries. Lickiss's day in court, scheduled today, at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins, may yet see these pressing charges affirmed or rebutted in the eyes of the law.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Arash Rezaei and Benjamin J. Wolinsky led the prosecution against Lickiss, with Lynette Dixon offering support, following an exhaustive investigation coordinated by FBI and IRS-CI agents. As noted in their collaborative announcement, the SEC initiated civil enforcement action.
