A Redondo Beach man was charged last week in North Carolina after he allegedly posed as an investment adviser and defrauded victims of more than $4 million over the course of several years.

Jon Patrick Kubler, 52, was indicted on charges of securities fraud and transactional money laundering  after he allegedly provided investment planning and management services to inexperienced investors, the elderly and life insurance and settlement beneficiaries, despite not having a license, according to a May 23 statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte.

Between December 2017 and April 2023, prosecutors allege Kubler defrauded around 30 investors of more than $4 million.

Kubler falsely and fraudulently represented himself to victims, hid and omitted material facts and lied to convince victims to invest in commercial real estate through companies that he owned, like Aksarben Evolution LLC and Green Saddle LLC, a statement from the U.S. Justice Department said.

Kubler then allegedly used new investors’ money to make Ponzi-like payments to existing investors, convincing them the payments were the result of successful investments, prosecutors said. Prosecutors also believe that Kubler used the investors’ money to pay personal expenses and make cash withdrawals, among other things.

In 2022, an investor received a letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about its investigation into Kubler’s reported fraud. Kubler lied to the victim, telling her that she didn’t need to respond to the letter and that it was normal to get communication from the SEC after receiving a large settlement, as she had, officials said.

If convicted, Kubler faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Before the criminal charges, the SEC announced in September 2023 that it received a temporary asset freeze, restraining order and other emergency relief in the U.S. District Court in Nebraska against Kubler and several entities in his control for allegedly engaging in a scheme that misused and misappropriated investors’ money. Kubler agreed in a final judgment this past January to be permanently enjoined from breaking the securities law and to pay penalties.