Orange County Broker Indicted

A Laguna Hills securities broker-turned-fugitive was indicted Thursday in a second wave of prosecutions against so-called rogue brokers accused of preying on seniors, widows and other vulnerable investors. Henry Clay Maxwell, 27, was accused by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles of defrauding an elderly victim of $280,000 in securities and transferring the proceeds to accounts in New York City, South Carolina and the Bahamas. Maxwell is one of 17 individuals indicted or convicted nationwide in the last year, bringing the total number of those accused to 28 since Atty. Gen. Janet Reno launched sweeps against rogue brokers in late 1995. Two months ago, Michael R. Warren, 41, a former San Marino investment advisor who pleaded guilty to five felony fraud charges, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $600,000 in restitution to mostly elderly victims. “These abuses are a serious threat to the economic well-being of investors and the investment industry,” Reno said.