Fired Investment Centers of America Adviser Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges

By Aaron Poehler

Published on November 15, 2007

According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri, Henry operated a financial brokerage firm in Carthage, Missouri for ICA from November 1996 to August 2005. Though ICA fired Henry in September 2005 citing lack of production, Henry continued advertising himself as an ICA representative and additionally began to fraudulently claim to be an agent of Harbour Investments.

The U.S. attorney’s office also claims that during Henry's entire tenure as an investment adviser, he routinely defrauded clients by taking investment funds for his own personal use, often by listing himself and wife Yvonne Raczkowski as joint owners on client accounts. Henry also pleaded guilty to filing a fraudulent federal tax return for the year 2002.

The office of the Missouri Secretary of State also announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with ICA under which the company will repay $788,000 to investors rather than face possible charges of improper supervision. The company will also pay $200,000 to the Missouri Investor Education and Protection Fund along with a civil penalty of $25,000, and $18,500 for the state’s investigative expenses.

ICA claims not to have authorized the account into which Henry deposited his fraudulently acquired gains.