Iowa Insurance Agent Has Paid Only Fraction Of Fraud Settlement Amount
Oct. 04--Bobby Collins, an Iowa Park businessman who allegedly scammed elderly investors out of millions of dollars, has paid only a fraction of the amount he owes, documents show.
Collins agreed in November to repay investors and the government more than $700,000 in profits he allegedly obtained illegally, along with civil penalties in connection with a $4.6 million scheme, a court document indicates. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint alleging that Collins lured in elderly individuals and persuaded them to invest their savings in "high-yield, unsecured notes" with promised returns in from one to two years.
Collins reportedly promised the 36 investors he would use their capital to grow his insurance business. Instead, he used most of the money to make mortgage and luxury car payments, for retail shopping, and for payments to earlier investors. Less than 2 percent of investors' money was used for its promised purpose, the complaint says.
As of late August, and almost a year after the agreement was put into place, Collins has paid just more than $100,000, about one-seventh of the amount owed. A record of Collins' payments to the SEC was obtained by the Times Record News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to the records, Collins made his first payment of $35,000 on Nov. 25, 2015. His second payment of $68,000 was made April 15. But as of Aug. 23, Collins hadn't made any more payments, which means defrauded investors can't collect what's owed to them.
Settlement language indicates the SEC may move to hold Collins in civil contempt -- or use collection procedures -- if the agreement is not abided by, though it's unclear whether the agency has taken any enforcement action against him.
Collins declined to be interviewed for this story, citing a prohibition from discussing "in any manner any matter even tangentially related to the claims asserted in the lawsuit."
"Though we would like to answer any questions you may have, we are prohibited from so commenting," he wrote in an email. "We ask that you be respectful of my family's privacy at this time in light of the aforementioned prohibition."
Boby Collins' Final Judhment by Anonymous XetrNz on Scribd
Collins' Fraud by Anonymous XetrNz on Scribd
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