Maple Grove Investment Advisor Accused of Swindling More Than $2 Million from Clients
A Maple Grove investment advisor is accused of swindling more than $2 million from nearly two dozen of his clients.
Isaiah Goodman, 33, is charged with one count of felony mail fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the charge on Monday.
According to court documents, Goodman owned Becoming Financial Group and co-founded MoneyVerbs, which claimed to provide financial guidance through an app. During in-person sales pitches or through email messages and phone calls, Goodman provided bogus investment proposals and online account information, prosecutors said. Goodman also lied to clients that their their funds would be returned upon request, the charges said. Instead, prosecutors say Goodman either kept all the money or provided investors with refunded payments that were either late and incomplete or from other clients’ money.
Prosecutors: Funds Went to Home Purchases, Lavish Lifestyle
The fraud totaled approximately $2.2 million. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says some of the money went into purchasing and remodeling his home in Maple Grove, as well as buying and building a $1.69 million home in Plymouth. Other funds went to buying a 2019 Ford Expedition and a 2020 Ford Explorer; funneling approximately $700,000 toward his other business, MoneyVerbs; and paying for personal expenditures, including a hot tub, a cruise, fitness club memberships, jewelry, and credit card payments.
According to the allegations, the misappropriation of funds went on from at least 2017 through November 2020. The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau.
Goodman now awaits a date for his first court appearance.
