PHOENIX — A Peoria man and his affiliated companies have been ordered to pay over $4 million in restitution for allegedly selling unregistered investment contracts to about 400 investors.
The Arizona Corporation Commission issued the financial penalty against Jad Morris earlier this month after concluding he had engaged in securities fraud. The penalty included an extra $200,000 fine.
ACC records accuse Morris of selling "investors an investment in a call center that would purportedly find customers to put in the investors' downlines for multi-level marketing companies."
"Morris guaranteed investors would receive over $1,000 per month from their downlines. On at least one occasion, Morris guaranteed an investor $5,000 per month. Investors did not receive the promised returns and lost most or all of their principal," commission records state.
Morris allegedly convinced some investors to use credit cards to make investments, falsely telling them they wouldn't be liable for business credit card debt.
The ACC found Morris used most of the investors' funds for personal uses which weren't authorized by the investors. The commissioners also faulted Morris for allegedly not telling investors about his previous securities violations in Wisconsin.
By settling this case with the commission, Morris did not admit nor deny the allegations brought against him.
Morris has already agreed to pay $372,000 toward the $4,679,122 restitution order, ACC records show.
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