Mass. Broker Allegedly Scammed Investors out of $2M

According to a complaint filed by the Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Securities Division, Gregg Thomas Rennie was registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an agent of six broker/dealer firms and a licensed insurance producer. However, he is not currently registered to sell securities or offer investment advice in the Commonwealth. He even served as a talk show host on a radio program titled “Your Money Radio,’ which aired in the Boston area.

Beginning in at least 2007, the Quincy-based broker orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud Massachusetts investors, the complaint said. He used a combination of legitimate investment offerings and fictitious bank accounts bearing the same or similar name.

Rennie lured investors by offering annual returns of as much as 13%. He was eventually able to obtain amounts likely in excess of $2 million from investors, according to the documents. Rennie also leveraged the name recognition of a Boston-based firm by pitching legitimate-sounding opportunities such as “Olde Boston Capital Fund,’ “Old Boston Capital II, LLC,’ and “Boston Capital II, LLC’ to unsuspecting investors. Rennie would open bank accounts bearing the name of the investment fund, but apparently keep them under his control.

Like other investment frauds of late, Rennie’s activity was unearthed when investors began to ask to draw on funds during the economic downturn. Rennie encouraged investors to abandon withdrawal attempts and became evasive, even stopping communication with some investors. His most recent employing broker/dealer firm terminated his registration as an agent as of January 13, the complaint said.

Among other things, the Massachusetts Securities Division requests that the Director of Hearing officer give up all profits from the alleged wrongdoing and revoke his registration.

The complaint is available here.