Stock Scam Targets Elderly Idahoans

A Los Angeles boiler room operation run by two men with criminal records has targeted elderly North Idaho investors in a stock-selling scam, state securities officials warned Monday.

The Idaho Department of Finance has sued American Investment Watch and three key officers for alleged violations of state securities laws, including failure to disclose that company officers previously had been convicted of armed robbery.

“They’ll do and say anything to get money,” said Wayne Klein, the department’s securities bureau chief.

The suit was filed last week in First District Court in Sandpoint after a 76-year-old man bought $15,000 in American Investment stock.

Klein said he is worried that others also may have been targeted by American Investment.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against American Investment, restitution to customers and up to $10,000 per violation. The suit also names company president James Benjamin, chief executive Mike Robertson and salesman Randy Carson Warner.

The suit claims that unlicensed American Investment salesman have been selling unregistered stock in the firm, which claims to be a publisher.

In one case, Klein said, American Investment solicited money for an IRA account from a person too old to legally contribute to such an account.