A federal court in Boston has ordered Edward M. Laborio and several companies he used to defraud investors pay a total of $37 million in fines and penalties.
Laborio, who was ordered arrested in August and is currently a fugitive, was found liable for bilking 150 investors out of more than $4 million from 2006 to 2009. His “boiler room” operation employed 20 salespeople to recruit investors with false promises about the performance of his supposed investment funds, which were not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Paul Levenson, director of the SEC’s regional office, “there have been no collections to date.”
Laborio used the money to cover gambling losses and personal expenses, according to the SEC complaint filed in 2012. He and Jonathan Fraiman, a co-defendant, also were indicted in August on criminal charges of mail fraud and conspiracy.
The penalty assessed last week by Judge Patti Saris includes $5 million in damages plus $4 million in penalties for Laborio and each of seven companies he controlled. Two of Laborio’s co-defendants agreed to penalties last year that prohibited them from taking part in many jobs in the financial sector.
An attorney for Laborio declined to comment.
Jack Newsham can be reached at jack.newsham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheNewsHam.