Danville financial advisor, 78, sentenced to 9 years in prison for $9.5 million Ponzi scheme

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A former East Bay financial adviser was sentenced on Wednesday to nine years in federal prison for running a decades-long Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of nearly $10 million, authorities said.

Edwin Emmett “Mike” Lickiss, Jr., pleaded guilty in May to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection with the scheme, admitting that he defrauded more than 93 investors out of $9.3 million between 1998 and 2024, according to a press statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Northern District of California.

Lickiss, 78, of Danville, Calif., owned and operated Foundation Financial Group, a firm that provided investment services to investors California, Idaho and other states, according to the Internal Revenue Service. His broker’s license was suspended in 2014, but he continued to solicit and obtain investments from victim investors until around September 2024, the IRS said.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lickiss told victims that he would invest their money in exclusive, tax-free bonds with rates of return up to 30%. He also claimed that his family members had invested in the bonds, that he charged no investment fees because he had already profited substantially, and that investors could redeem their money at any time, the office said.

However, the bonds did not exist, and Lickiss funneled money from later victims to pay earlier investors, as well as using victim funds for personal expenses, including cash withdrawals, home renovations, travel, and other expenses, prosecutors said.

Lickiss also faces a civil enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.