Michael Shillin: SEC Files SpaceX Charges Against Ex-AGP Rep

Former Altoona stockbroker and investment adviser Michael Shillin (CRD# 5927156) has been named in charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging he deceived his investors. According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the former Alliance Global Partners representative has also received investor complaints, both pending and settled. 

Michael Shillin’s BrokerCheck report lists 21 pending investor complaints and 12 settled investor complaints. It also describes the pending SEC complaint against him. Filed in September 2021, the SEC complaint alleges that when hundreds of clients entrusted their funds with him as their investment adviser, he “systematically betrayed their trust, plying them with lies.” The complaint describes an instance in which he told a customer a life insurance policy “contained a long-term care benefit,” only for the client to learn when they were diagnosed with an illness that there was neither a benefit nor a policy. Another customer described by the SEC allegedly “decided to retire early upon learning from Shillin that he was $450,000 richer” thanks to an investment in SpaceX stock, only to learn later that the stock and the  profits “were figments of Shillin’s deception.” Shillin allegedly undertook various measures to mislead his clients, for instance the creation of a web portal to track their investments. According to an SEC press release, he ultimately “received hundreds of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains as a result of his fraudulent conduct.” The SEC has charged him with violations of federal securities law. 

The 21 pending investor complaints against Michael Shillin, all filed in 2021, allege among other things that he mislead them, said he purchased securities in their accounts when he had not done so, “misrepresented” that he had purchased long-term care riders for the clients, “appeared to use transfers from claimants’ investment accounts or payments from claimants’ own capital invested in annuit[ies] to create [the] illusion of benefit payments,” made unauthorized disbursements, mismanaged retirement funds, and told them they owned SpaceX shares when he had not purchased the stocks in their accounts. The pending complaints allege aggregate damages exceeding $1.3 million.

The 12 settled complaints against Mr. Shillin detail allegations including mismanagement, misrepresentation, and providing falsified tax documents while he was at Alliance Global Partners. The complaints settled for more than $300,000.

Michael Shillin’s BrokerCheck report also shows that he voluntarily resigned from Alliance Global Partners in 2020, while he was under investigation for the creation and alteration of documents and emails, making payments to the purported beneficiary of a nonexistent insurance policy, and making misstatements. According to FINRA, “The investigation to date has not uncovered any evidence of diversion of funds.”

According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records, Michael Shillin holds nine years of securities industry experience. His registration history includes Alliance Global Partners in Altoona, Wisconsin, Raymond James Financial Services in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and Edward Jones in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He has passed the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, and the General Securities Representative Examination. Records show that he holds no state securities licenses. (Information current as of November 14, 2021.)