Judge Sentences Indiana Investment Advisor to Prison for Fraud and Filing False Tax Returns

PITTSBURGH - Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today that an Indiana County investment advisor was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment, three years supervised release and ordered to pay $1,212,663.93, on his conviction at trial of one count of securities fraud, one count of mail fraud and four counts of filing false tax returns.

Receiving the sentence from United States District Judge Reggie B. Walton was Bernard Parker, age 56.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys Robert S. Cessar and Rachael L. Mamula, who prosecuted the case, the evidence presented at trial established that Parker, the principal of Parker Financial Services, solicited his clients, by signing of “Investors Contracts,” to invest in tax lien certificates, municipal bonds, computer software, real estate, and other undefined investments. Parker then used the vast majority of the monies taken from these investors for his personal expenses instead of the various investments agreed upon with his clients. Further, Parker filed false federal tax returns for tax years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, each of which failed to report his income.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation that led to the conviction of Bernard M. Parker.