North Canton man indicted on 44 counts, accused in $162,000 scam

NORTH CANTON, Ohio - A North Canton man has been accused of selling $162,000 in unregistered securities to mostly elderly investors.

William F. Morgan was indicted by a Stark County grad jury on 44 counts on Wednesday and taken to the Stark County Jail on Friday, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities said.

Morgan was a licensed securities salesperson until January 2004, when he was fired by his employer. Since then, he convinced 15 investors, most from Stark County, that there was no way they could lose their money, the department said. Instead of investing the money, investigators said he put the money into his own bank account.

He was indicted on six counts of grand theft, nine counts of theft from the elderly, 14 counts of selling unregistered securities and 15 counts of securities fraud.

Potential investors should call the Division of Securities protection hotline at 1-877-683-7841 to find out if their brokerage firm is license and if any enforcement action has been taken.