SHOCKING: SEC Says Illinois Investment Adviser And Movie Producer Raided Account Of 96-Year-Old Nursing Home Patient With Dementia; Steve Salutric Ponzi Diverted $321,000 To His Church
A federal judge has frozen the assets of Illinois investment adviser Steve Salutric in a Ponzi scheme case in which the allegations are shocking.
Salutric, 51, a church treasurer who took a stab at the fim business and co-produced the 2005 movie “Madison” starring Jim Caviezel and Bruce Dern, raided the account of a 96-year-old woman last year to keep his Ponzi scheme going, according to a complaint filed today by the SEC.
The woman lived in a nursing home and was suffering from dementia, the SEC said, adding that Salutric’s act toward her was “particularly egregious.”
Salutric misappropriated more than $400,000 of the woman’s funds, the SEC said, identifying her only as “Client A.” Other client accounts also were raided.
“Client A has no current memory, cannot retain information for more than 5 minutes, and resides in a nursing home,” the SEC said in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
In recent weeks, fearing his fraud was about to be exposed, Salutric began to approach clients with offers to pay them “hush money,” the SEC said.
“Client funds thus are apparently being used in effort to conceal Salutric’s previous misconduct and are being used in a Ponzi-like fashion as ‘hush’ money,” the SEC argued today to U.S. District Judge William J. Hibbler. “Unless emergency action is taken, Salutric may attempt to further dissipate client funds by paying clients with misappropriated funds in an effort to gain ‘cooperation’ from some of his defrauded clients.”
Hibbler froze Salutric’s assets.
Salutric, of Carol Stream, Ill., co-founded the investment advisory firm Results One Financial LLC, the SEC said. Results One, which has more than 1,000 clients and more than $160 million under management, was identified in the complaint as a “relevant party,” not a defendant in the case.
Salutric is accused of misappropriating “at least” $1.8 million in clients’ funds by raiding their Charles Schwab accounts, and he “did not have discretionary authority to withdraw funds from client accounts at Schwab,” the SEC said.
Among the allegations, which listed one shocking claim after another, were that Salutric forged signatures to gain access to the Schwab accounts and “transferred approximately $1.2 million of client funds to entities with apparent ties to Salutric,” the SEC said.
Among the entities to which he directed misappropriated funds was his church, where Salutric is the treasurer and has signatory authority over the church’s bank accounts, the SEC said.
The church received $321,000, the SEC said.
A film-distribution company known as Celluloid Distribution LLC received $610,000, the SEC said.
Meanwhile, a Yorkville, Ill., restaurant in which Salutric holds an ownership interest received “about $45,000,” the SEC said, and a now-shuttered restaurant in Carol Stream received $214,000.
“This restaurant went out of business in 2009,” the SEC said. “One of Salutric’s clients is the agent for the restaurant’s corporate entity, and the owner is the brother-in-law of one of Salutric’s defrauded clients.”
Clients who were fleeced were not aware of the transfers and did not approve them, the SEC said.
At one point, Salutric spent down the account of the 96-year-client with dementia to the point that it less than $10,000. The SEC did not say precisely how much had been in the account, but noted the misappropriation exceeded $400,000.
A $50,000 Ponzi payment was made to another fleeced investor from the elderly client’s account, the SEC said. Salutric lied to the client’s daughter in the summer of 2009 about the amount of money in the account and continued to steal from it after telling the lie, the SEC said.
Salutric is listed as a co-producer of the hydroplane-racing movie “Madison,” which starred Caviezel and Dern. The movie had a limited run in 2005, after being completed in 2001 and sitting on the shelf for nearly four years prior to release.
The new trend in Ponzi’s, fraud and scams seems to be trusted advisors taking advantage of their clients. The very people you are supposed to be able to trust with your finances. Whether it is an attorney, accountant, broker, financial advisor, pastor, insurance agent, or anyone else; you must now do your due diligence on them as much as you would an investment. The really sad part is this is not the exception any more, but becoming the norm. Incredible.
This is no new trend and isn’t remotely shocking.
What’s shocking is how long it’s gone on unchecked, and how widespread it’s become.
THERE IS A PLACE IN HELL FOR PEOPLE WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ELDERLY. MY FATHER-IN-LAW IS ONE OF HIS VICTIMS.
Carol, your father in law has my sincerest sympathy. One thing these ponzi pushers conveniently forget is that their victims are real people, not names and numbers
Carol:
My sympathies to you and your father-in-law. My aunt is the 96 year old in the nursing home so I do understand how violated you feel.
Ingrid
AND THERE IS A PLACE IN HELL FOR PEOPLE THAT JUDGE PEOPLE BEFORE THEY ARE PROVEN GUILTLY. SHAME ON YOU BOTH. IN AMERICA IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN. YOU ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!!!!!!
ummmmmm….
BJ, it seems to me that you have just judged people as well, condemned them to hell, and those people have not even been charged with anything. They have close personal connections to the alleged VICTIMS. Of course have they been found guilty of anything either, and yet you condemn them. Where does that put you? It would seem that your own logic would dictate that you should condemn yourself to hell as well….. btw, the caps lock key is usually found on the left hand side of the keyboard in case you don’t know how to turn it off…..
Quick note:
“BJ,” we believe, also was “John,” an articulate spokesman for the AdViewGlobal Ponzi scheme.
“Do you people have any better things to do than to write negative comments about Adview? I am a member and it is working great for me. My business is doing better, due to my exposure on that sight. I am also taking advantage of the services they provide.Please do your research before you write slanderish comments.
“Thank you!”
Post was from June 4, 2009, after AVG had announced a 250 percent matching-bonus program on top of earlier, 200-percent matching programs.
And, of course, it also was after AVG had announced a new offshore wire facility to replace a facility that had been “suspended” earlier. The announcement of the new facility, BTW, was made on the same day the Obama administration announced a crackdown on international financial fraudsters.
The company purported to be AVG’s new wire facilitator issued a public denial it had any business relationship with AVG. All of this happened before the June 4 post cited above.
Here is our May 5 story on AVG’s announcement:
https://patrickpretty.com/2009/05/05/priceless-adviewglobal-announces-wire-deal-with-offshore-bank-on-day-white-house-announces-crackdown-on-offshore-tax-havens/
Patrick
ENTERTAINED,I CHOSE ALL CAPS TO BRING ATTENTION TO MY MESSAGE. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU LIKE POINTING THE FINGER. I DIDN’T KNOW THAT PERFECT PEOPLE EXIST. I DON’T BELIEVE ANYONE SHOULD BE CONDEMED TO HELL. LIKE I SAID INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. WHAT PROOF TO YOU HAVE THAT THEY HAVE CONNECTIONS TO THE VICTIMS. DO YOU ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ??????
ummmm….
Are you now saying that you did NOT say that the previous posters did NOT judge the accused before the accused were found guilty? It sure looks like you did in fact judge them to have judged others, and also stated that those who judge others until proven guilty have a place resrved in hell. Stick to your story. Further, pls try to understand the phrase “alleged”, as I posted the “alleged victims.” I don’t need any proof that they are alleged victims, or that the posters allegedly know the alleged victims. Do I believe everything I read? Hardly, if you follow any of my posts……I certainly don’t believe the drivel written by Ponzi promoters, or clowns who believe in the legitimacy of AVG, whoever they may be. Does that list of AVG believers include you?????
the paper trail NEVER LIES..
[…] Ponzi scheme was the second to touch Carol Stream in recent weeks. On Jan. 8, the SEC charged Steve Salutric, 51, a church treasurer, with operating a Ponzi scheme by raiding Charles Schwab accounts for […]
My mother-in-law was also taken advantage of. We do not know yet the full extent of the damage. What a shock. She trusted Steve because my (now deceased) father-in-law trusted him. what a betrayal.
We to thought we lost all our money, but we believed in Steve & luckily we’re able to contact him directly to find out all our money was still there! Resultsone is trying to make him look like the bad guy. From my understanding he did make mistakes but stealing was not one of them. I wish you all well & hope things turn out to be false too where the lose of investments are concerned
[…] 53, of Carol Stream, initially was charged civilly by the SEC in January 2010, amid shocking allegations that, to keep his Ponzi and fraud scheme afloat, he stole $400,000 from […]