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RALEIGH—United States Attorney Thomas G.Walker announced that in federal court today Joseph A. Leonard, 44, wassentenced by United State District Judge Earl Britt to 210 months’imprisonment; three years’ supervised release; and was ordered to pay a $100special assessment and $996,984.80 in restitution. On May 7, 2012, Leonard pledguilty to securities fraud, in violation of Title 15, United States Code,Section 75j(b), and
Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations,Section 240.10-b5. Leonard, a former resident of Southport, North Carolina, wasa financial advisor who owned and operated Coastal Investment Advisors andLeonard Capital Management. Additionally, he was the author of “Your Money,Your Rights, Your Retirement,” published in 2006, and the “Retirement Vault,”published in 2008.
An investigation by the Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI) determined that Leonard forged stock certificates of acompany known as Proton Therapies, USA (PT-USA). Subsequently, Terry Sanfordwithout the prior knowledge or authorization of the CEO and board of directorsof PT-USA, Leonard sold these forged stock certificates, purportedly worth$1,600,000, to 55 individuals—including members of his own family—in theWilmington, North Carolina area and elsewhere. Leonard sold forged stockcertificates to the 55 victims in this case and pocketed the cash for himself.
Additionally, Leonard committed aparallel investment fraud scheme, selling fake certificates of deposit (CDs),purportedly offering an annual interest rate of 4.05 percent. Leonard sold inexcess of $996,000 in these fake CDs to 10 individuals in the Wilmington, NorthCarolina area and elsewhere. As part of this fraud scheme, Leonard sent theseindividuals false monthly account statements showing regular growth in theseCDs. In fact in and in truth, these CDs did not exist and Leonard had pocketedthe cash for himself.
Investigation of this case was conductedby the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney EvanRikhye is serving as prosecutor for the government.
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