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Tuesday, October 23, 2018

JASON BESCOE TAKES A DEAL, PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLEMENT; ORDERED TO PAY $2.4 MILLION RESTITUTION

BREAKING NEWS: JASON BESCOE PLEADS GUILTY TO TWO COUNTS OF EMBEZZLEMENT; SENTENCING NOVEMBER 19


Jason Bescoe admitted stealing $2.7 million from senior citizens, stripped of assets

Scuttling in and out of a Genesee County courtroom yesterday sporting an orange jumpsuit and shackles, disgraced financial flim-flammer Jason Bescoe morphed from an alleged criminal into a full-blown felon.

Bescoe pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement and agreed to relinquish $2.4 million dollars in assets as part of a plea deal. Bescoe admitted to swindling $2.7 million from clients between 2008 and 2017. 

Genesee County Circuit Court records confirm that Bescoe agreed to pay restitution to three victims—$1,222,575.30, $908,222.10 and $353,887.09 —from the assets relinquished.

Bescoe (shown at left in a mugshot) was ordered “to relinquish any security or trading licensure, cease & desist from any financial advising, investment advising or investment activities done in his own name or other, and liquidate all real personal property and personal assets to pay restitution.”

Prosecutors may want to check Michigan's Business Entity database.

In April 2018, Bescoe registered “IRA Counsel, LLC” as a Michigan business entity, with the stated purpose of providing "consulting services to individuals seeking advice on their personal retirement plans." 

The official filing, also stated that the so-called “advice” would “include planning for accumulation, preservation, distributions, and beneficiaries.” 

But wait, it gets better. 

In addition to the April 2018 new business, Bescoe registered nine Michigan entities in 2017, beginning days after his original embezzlement indictment was announced—entities described as “retirement account holding companies”, vehicles that could shelter significant assets Bescoe may want to conceal from the asset forfeiture. 

Beginning August 23, 2017 and continuing through August 31, 2017, Bescoe registered these nine Michigan business entities, each with the stated purpose of  “retirement account holding company”: 

ABG IRA Holdings,LLC 
CAG IRA Holdings, LLC 
GDR IRA Holdings, LLC 
JED IRA Holdings, LLC 
LAR IRA Holdings, LLC 
LAR Roth Holdings, LLC 
MKL IRA Holdings, LLC 
PEK IRA Holdings, LLC 
TWK IRA Holdings, LLC 

Jason K. Bescoe was the managing member and sole employee of Research Money Management, LLC. 

His office was located in Grand Blanc, Michigan. 

Bescoe was registered as a Michigan securities salesperson from July 1995 to August 2006. (Prior to that, Bescoe was a licensed Michigan insurance agent from 2002 until his license lapsed in 2008.)

Bescoe and his wife, Andrea, filed a federal Chapter 7 bankruptcy action in 2004, discharging their debts in 2005, less than one year before Bescoe formed his investment firm. (Documents related to the Bescoe bankruptcy are not available online, so it's impossible to know the size and scope of their debt.)

In August 2006 Jason Bescoe applied to be licensed as a Michigan investment adviser representative; however, he failed to take the qualifying examination and was not licensed at that time.

In March 2015, Michigan State initiated an administrative action against Bescoe for offering and selling securities in Michigan without proper licensure in violation of the Michigan Securities Act. 

He re-applied for licensure in Michigan on March 18, 2015. The administrative action was resolved through the entry of a Stipulation on April 6, 2016 and he was granted a Conditional Registration in Michigan. 

On August 16, 2017, Michigan’s Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau (CSCL) issued orders summarily suspending the investment adviser registration of Research Money Management, LLC and Bescoe.

According to a CSCL news release, Bescoe and his firm failed to submit required reports under the conditional registration agreement they entered with CSCL in April 2016. 

The conditional registration agreement was due to Bescoe’s disciplinary history, which included conducting business in Washington State as an investment adviser representative without being registered. 

That case was resolved in late August 2016 with a "Cease and Desist" order issued and Bescoe slapped with $30,000 in civil penalties and fees.

Bescoe is scheduled to be formally sentenced at 2:00 pm. on November 19.

October 24 UPDATE: 

Bescoe will serve five years of probation as part of the plea agreement with Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. 

"We believe we have a better chance of getting more money back for the victims if he doesn't go to prison," Leyton said. 

"We believe it's the best situation for the victims if he's free and able to help us track down the money."



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