(KRON) — A Danville man has pleaded guilty to running a decades-long, multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme. Edwin Emmett Lickiss Jr., 78, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in connection to the scheme.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Lickiss is a former financial advisor who defrauded more than 93 investors of at least $9.5 million between 1998 and September of 2024. Lickiss, the DOJ said, would falsely claim that he’d place victim’s funds in exclusive, safe, tax-free bonds.
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Some, he falsely told people, would generate returns of more than 20%. Lickiss issued promissory notes on the letterhead of his former firm, Foundation Financial Group.
But in actuality, Lickiss used payments from subsequent victims to make payments to earlier investors, in line with a classic Ponzi scheme, the DOJ said. He also diverted victim funds for his own use, including cash withdrawals, home renovations, travel, and payments on vehicles, mortgages, and personal credit cards…