Never Judge A Book By It’s Cover
There was the top-of-the-line Mercedes, the sleek BMW and the fancy Range Rover, the diamond necklaces and the eye-popping watches. John A. Baldo of Freedom Financial impressed his clients, enough so that they didn’t know he was ripping them off, according to the FBI. The 38-year-old from Andover, Mass., was arrested in Las Vegas in late January on charges that he defrauded senior citizens of some $2 million, all while telling them he was investing their life savings. Baldo has been charged and released on his own recognizance to await trial.
“The worst cases are the ones where it would be really easy to have figured out something was wrong, but the victims never made the effort,” says Bryan Lantagne, director of the Massachusetts Securities Division. “They’re too impressed by what they see, or they are too trusting or too polite. … The worst thing is that it always seems like the victims are seniors.” Baldo’s $2 million came from just a few victims, but the bulk of it was from two Connecticut brothers who took it at face value that he was a certified financial adviser and that his firm was legit, the FBI said.
Had the victims called their state securities administrator, they would have found that Baldo was not registered as any type of adviser. Had they contacted the national financial organizations, they would have learned Baldo never was a certified financial planner. One phone call, a few minutes of time, no doubt.
