A Fort Smith church’s associate pastor has repaid $116,500 to four Arkansans who accused him of luring them into fraudulent investments.
Thomas James, who now lives in Washington County, is permanently barred from working as an officer or managing member of any company that offers or sells securities in Arkansas, according to a consent judgment signed Thursday by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray.
The agreement with the Arkansas Securities Department also prohibits James from engaging in future fraudulent securities sales or sales of unregistered securities.
In a complaint filed last year, James was accused of stealing $61,500 from a member at the Fort Smith church where he was an associate pastor. Thomas showed Arkansas Resident One (AR1) a falsified financial statement listing him as a licensed brokerage agent and a certified financial planner, the complaint said.
He identified his company as TJames Investments, but didn’t register with the state Securities Department. Thomas promised to invest the money in a U.S. Treasury bond fund yielding 23.9 percent interest in 180 days, court documents said. The bond fund didn’t exist. Authorities said James pocketed most of the money for travel and his own purchases.
Thursday’s consent judgment calculated that first theft higher, at $66,500.
The consent judgment also revealed three more similar schemes involving Thomas. They are:
Soliciting and accepting $10,000 from a second person, falsely promising to invest in a U.S. Treasury bond fund yielding 31.8 percent interest in 180 days. (The consent judgment didn’t name any of the victims.)
Asking for and taking $35,000 from a third person, falsely promising a Treasury fund investment that would yield 27.6 percent interest in 180 days.
Soliciting and taking $10,000 in investment funds “from a school teacher James met while giving a financial advice seminar at a high school in Washington County,” the consent order said. James falsely promised to invest in a Treasury bond fund yielding 26.2 percent interest in 270 days.
James was employed by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith from 2006 until he was terminated in 2008, according to court records. He was serving as an associate pastor for St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Smith in 2013, when state Securities Commissioner Heath Abshure filed a complaint against him.
James, his Little Rock attorney Peter Kumpe and Securities Department officials could not be reached late Friday for comment. It wasn’t clear late Friday whether James faces any criminal charges in the schemes. A call to James’ church, to learn whether he is still on staff there, was unanswered.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/15/2014