Ex-Morgan Stanley Advisor Pleads Guilty to $7 Million Fraud

Instead of investing clients’ money as promised, Good used the funds for his personal expenditures, including vacations in France and Italy on his clients’ dime, the department said. He also used their money to buy a condominium in Florida as well as a suite of luxury cars: a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Boxster, a


Tesla

Model 3, an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, and a Lexus RX350, according to the Justice Department.

Good persuaded some clients to take lines of credit secured by their


Morgan Stanley

investment or retirement accounts and asked other clients to wire him funds from their accounts, according to the Justice Department.

At least 12 clients invested approximately $7.2 million based on false statements and misrepresentations, the Justice Department said.

Good carried out the fraud scheme from 2012 to February 2022, andto conceal his actions, he used a portion of client funds to repay earlier investors, the Justice Department said.

“This investment advisor breached the trust of at least a dozen clients, taking over $7 million—money he promised would go to low-risk investments—and used it to line his pockets, buying real estate, luxury cars, and vacations,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “This decade-long scam has finally come to an end.”

Good’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment. 

Good was based in Wilmington, N.C., and was registered with Morgan Stanley from 2012 to 2022, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by industry self-regulator Finra.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman declined to comment.

The Justice Department said that the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Unit and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation Financial Crimes helped investigate the case.

Good has two pending client complaints listed on BrokerCheck. In April, Finra barred him from the industry for refusing to appear for on-the-record testimony requested by the regulator.

Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Good, accusing him of defrauding clients of millions. The SEC said that his defrauded clients included novice investors, retirees, and a single mother of young children. The commission filed its lawsuit in a federal court April 18 in Raleigh, N.C. In July, a federal judge ordered Good to pay a monetary penalty to be determined at a later date, according to court records.

Write to Andrew Welsch at [email protected]