Last month, Jesse Morgan Hinson of Troy, Alabama was arrested for alleged violations of the Alabama Securities Act. Hinson turned himself in to Houston County law enforcement officials based on an arrest warrant issued after an October 2015 Houston County Grand Jury returned a four-count indictment. Hinson was released on $75,000 bond pending trial.

The indictment charges Hinson with one count of Sale of Unregistered Securities and one count of Sale of Securities by an Unregistered Agent, Class C felonies, punishable by one year and one day to ten years’ imprisonment and a $15,000 fine per charge upon conviction. Additionally, the indictment charges Hinson with two counts of Fraud in Connection with the Sale of Securities for making misrepresentations or omissions of material fact to an investor and for engaging in an act, practice or course of business which operates as a fraud or deceit upon an investor. The fraud charges are Class B felonies, punishable by two to twenty years’ incarceration and a $30,000 fine per charge upon conviction.

The indictment alleges Hinson represented to an investor that he operated a business that purchased and sold scrap metal for profit. Hinson allegedly solicited investment in this scrap metal business by offering investment contracts to the investor and acquired funds from the investor from August 2013 to January 2014. The indictment alleges that Hinson was not registered with the Alabama Securities Commission as a dealer or an agent of securities in Alabama, nor were the investment contracts he offered registered with the Commission as securities to be sold in the state, as required by the Alabama Securities Act, that Hinson did not in fact operate a scrap metal business, and that the investors’ funds were instead used for personal expenses.

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment or Ponzi scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.