South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that an Anderson man charged with over a million dollars of financial crimes has pleaded guilty in the state’s first criminal prosecution under the State’s Commodities Act. Matthew Joseph Jones, 39, of Anderson County, pleaded guilty last October to Breach of Trust, Obtaining Money or Property Under False Pretenses, Securities Fraud, Commodities Fraud, and other charges in front of Circuit Judge Heath Taylor. At that plea in October, Judge Taylor, who noted each charge carries a maximum sentence of up to ten years in prison, gave Jones three months to gather funds for restitution to the victim.
Jones, who had been indicted on 19 felony counts of securities fraud, commodities fraud, and other charges, admitted he intentionally and willfully lied to the 65-year-old victim, whom he personally targeted to get money from. Jones then used the victim’s money for personal use, including beach getaways and other travel. Jones is a repeat offender who pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud in 2011 but received no jail time. On Tuesday, Judge Taylor sentenced Jones to 10 years in prison, suspended to 90 days in jail followed by five years of probation, plus restitution.
Attorney General Wilson, who assigned prosecutors from his office to handle the case, emphasized the importance of prosecutions such as this one. “White-collar crimes can, in the blink of an eye, destroy a company or wipe out a person’s life savings,” Wilson said. “They’re terrible at any time and even more so when the victim is retired and not in a position to replenish those savings from earnings.”
The case began in 2016 when Jones, who was not licensed to do so, began managing money for the victim. From there, he created false account statements, manipulated commodity purchase returns, and, finally, branched out into securities fraud by soliciting investment in a company through the use of false materials, as well as lies. The case came to light when the State Securities Division received a heads-up about a website that Jones was operating that contained photos of stock traders who allegedly worked for the company but who, in reality, were not affiliated with Jones.
The case was investigated by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Special Agents Pete Logan and Holly Siniard and prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General Tracy Meyers. Jones was represented by Jonathon Milling of Columbia and Kirk Moorehead of Anderson.
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