A former stockbroker stole nearly $3 million from clients of an investment advisory firm he set up after being run out of the securities industry for lying to customers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday. The SEC said it had obtained a preliminary injunction to halt the ongoing fraud by Scott Valente and his one-man firm, Albany, New York-based ELIV Group LLC, which raised more than $8.8 million from about 80 clients. Valente declined to comment. Valente, 56, stole at least $2.7 million from clients to support his "lavish lifestyle," including his mortgage payments, jewelry, and a vacation condominium, the SEC said in a complaint filed in federal court in New York. He carried out the alleged fraud by telling clients their investments had "achieved consistent and outsized, positive returns," the complaint said. It said Valente had assured prospective clients that their principal investment was "guaranteed," liquid and backed by a large money market
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