In Focus
November 18, 2004
nvestors will not forget the dramatic rise and fall of Massachusetts investment adviser Bradford Bleidt, and the financial devastation that he caused so many of them.
Bleidt's failed suicide effort follows his failed Ponzi Scheme, and the regulators' failure to catch this crook during the many years (he claims 20) that he was able to operate freely. The SEC didn't discover Bleidt's two sets of books during an audit but did react quickly to Bleidt's "suicide tape", delivered to the doorstep of the SEC, to obtain a court order freezing Bleidt's assets. How much restitution those assets will provide to investors remains to be seen.
But questions need to be asked. Or, more accurately, a spotlight needs to be shined on those entities involved with Bleidt. Where was his brokerage firm, Winslow, Evans & Crocker, during all of this? The firm has notified regulators that Bleidt "converted" customer funds, but wasn't available to comment to the press. The same spotlight needs to be shined on Bleidt's former brokerage firm, Detwiler, Mitchell, Fenton & Graves (10/2001 - 2/2004). And what did Sovereign Bank know (or should have known) in receiving the investors' funds as they were diverted to Bleidt's personal account there?
Investigation continues.
— James J. Eccleston
FinancialCounsel.com
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