The most disappointing thing about securities enforcement is the true con artist. Sure, we put a case together and send him to jail and that is just — but the investor-victim is never put back to the way they were before they met the con artist.
The disappointment comes because beyond sending the con artist to jail we are powerless to make the victim whole. Even if we could get the victims their money back – and we generally can’t – the con artist takes more than money from his victims.
Usually, people have a dream and they are looking for a way to pay for the dream. The dream might be a comfortable retirement, travel, mission work … whatever. While they are looking for a way to pay for the dream, they bump into the con artist. The con artist promises a return on their investment, yes, but there is more to it than that. The con artist becomes a vehicle to fulfill the dream — or at least that’s what he wants everyone to think.
More often than not, the con artist lives a life of luxury for a short time before his world implodes. The victims are robbed of the little bit of money they gave him hoping it would return enough for their dream.
Instead what little they had is taken. Their trust in humanity is shaken and their dream gone.
-Quote from an Investment Enforcement Investigator
Image “Alone” used by permission CC Georgle Paules via Flickr. All rights reserved Brandon L. Blankenship ©2015.