The Arizona investment adviser representative license of Cory R. Williams of Gilbert and the investment adviser license of his company, Williams Advisory Group, LLC, was revoked on Tuesday by the Arizona Corporation Commission based upon violations found by the U.S. Commodities and Futures Commission.
In its May 2018 decision, the U.S. Commodities and Futures Commission (CFTC), a federal regulator, found that Williams employed a scheme to defraud his family, friends, and fellow church members making multiple material misrepresentations and omissions in connection with investing more than $13 million of his client funds in the futures market.
Specifically, the CFTC found Williams attracted and retained investors by representing that he was a highly successful trader in the futures market when, in fact, he was not. The CFTC found Williams used more $3 million of the investors’ funds to repay certain investors who requested a return of their funds, which helped conceal his fraudulent scheme. Also, the CFTC found that Williams failed to register as a commodity pool operator, diverted more than $800,000 of investor funds to his own personal use, and continued to report fabricated weekly profits after losing all his investors’ money.