Wedding Singer Hits a Sour Note

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has charged a former Oklahoma investment advisor, who is also a local wedding singer, with securities fraud. According to the SEC, Larry Dearman, Sr., a former broker and investment advisor, and Marya Gray, a licensed realtor, swindled 30 of Dearman’s investment advisory clients out of $4.7 million.

According to the Complaint, Dearman told his clients that their money would be invested in entities owned or controlled by Gray, to wit: Bartnet Wireless Internet, Inc., The Property Shoppe, Inc., and Quench Buds Holding Company, LLC. In reality, the SEC claims that investors’ funds were used to pay Dearman’s and Gray’s personal expenses, gambling debts, and make Ponzi-type payments to earlier investors. The SEC claims that Dearman met many of his clients through his church and through his side job as a local wedding singer.

According to the SEC, the wrongdoing occurred from December 2008 to August 2012. Dearman’s BrokerCheck report reflects that he was a broker with Cambridge Legacy Securities, L.L.C. and a registered investment advisor with The Focus Group Advisors during this period.

The SEC’s Complaint reflects that both Dearman and Gray invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and have refused to testify in the SEC’s investigation.