By Chris Glynn
A New York registered investment
advisor received a six-year prison sentence for defrauding clientele of $8
million, according to a Department of Justice press
release.
Martin Ruiz, 46, admitted to
a New York federal court last November of swindling “elderly” clientele of $10
million with his RAM Fund, according to the August 2021 complaint with the SEC.
Ruiz registered with the SEC in
2004 as owner of Carter Bain Wealth Management, headquartered in Deming,
N.M.
The DOJ said Ruiz “misappropriated”
investor money from 56 people invested with CBWM to finance his RAM Fund, but he
then used the ill-gotten client money to support his “lavish lifestyle,” according
to the SEC.
In addition to purchasing a $245,000
home in New Mexico, Ruiz rented $300,000 in apartment space and paid off $3
million on his credit card, the SEC alleged. The DOJ noted Ruiz had a total
cash withdrawal of $700,000.
“Ruiz concealed misappropriation
by making a Ponzi-like payment” to his initial investor base, while making “false
valuation concerning RAM," the SEC claimed.
The SEC interviewed Ruiz in 2021
in which he made a “demonstrably false” statement about his running of RAM
Fund, including his claim the RAM Fund had been used to acquire real estate.
A phone call placed to the DOJ in
New York was nor returned. Bill Byford, vice president of CBWW in New
Mexico, did not respond to a request for comment.
