CLEVELAND, Ohio – Federal prosecutors Monday called a failed financial adviser a con man who lied to his investors in a $9.3 million scam that preyed upon the elderly.
Prosecutors Kathryn Andrachik and Brian McDonough told jurors in closing arguments that Raymond Erker put the savings of 54 residents into risky start-ups, despite his assurances that the investments would be safe. The government attorneys stressed that the investors would never have given Erker their money if they had known his plans.
“You’re sitting 30 feet away from a con man,” McDonough told jurors.
Erker’s attorney, Edwin Vargas, said his client poured $800,000 of his own money into his Westlake company. Vargas said Erker’s clients purchased private annuity agreements, based on their own choices. He said Erker never intended to harm his clients.
“Did Ray fail? Yes,” Vargas said. “Did Ray bite off too much? Yes. Did he defraud these people? No.”
The arguments came at the end of a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in which prosecutors accused Erker, 51, of Avon Lake, of conspiracy, mail and wire frauds and money laundering. Authorities said the scheme took place between 2013 and July 2018.
If convicted, Erker could face more than 20 years in prison.
During the trial, investors testified that they had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings through Erker’s financial firm. They said they wanted the money to go to low-risk investments.
Instead, Erker put…
