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A long-time Contra Costa County financial advisor was convicted of running a decades-long Ponzi scheme and pocketing over $9 million for almost a decade, federal prosecutors said.
Edwin Lickiss, 78, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection with the scheme, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California said in a statement Wednesday.
Between 1998 and 2024, Lickiss worked as a financial advisor in Danville and Alamo and owned and operated Foundation Financial Group. Prosecutors said that even though Lickiss’ broker’s license was suspended in 2014 and revoked in 2016, he continued to solicit and obtain investments until September 2024, never telling investors he had been suspended and then lost his license.
Lickiss told investors that he would invest their money in government bonds and other bonds, according to the indictment. He also told investors that he had exclusive access to fictitious bonds that paid very high rates of return, including rates exceeding 20 percent. Lickiss said these fake bonds were safe, secure, and tax-free and that they could be redeemed at any time.
Instead, Lickiss gave fake promissory notes that included fictitious information. He would occasionally give payments to some investors by using funds fraudulently obtained from other investors, prosecutors said.
Lickiss ran a Ponzi scheme and used the money he took in for things like home renovations and travel, as well as car, mortgage, and credit card payments. In total, he received at least $9.5 million from 93 investors.
Lickiss has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 28. He is facing up to 30 years in federal prison.
— Story by Katy St. Clair, Bay City News
