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Broker charged with securities fraud

A former Chapel Hill stockbroker has been indicted on 33 counts of securities fraud, authorities said Thursday.

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HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A former stockbroker has been indicted on 33 counts of securities fraud and related charges, authorities said Thursday.

An Orange County grand jury issued the indictments against Hugh Anthony Wilson, 51, of Morrisville, following an investigation by the Securities Division of the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office. He is charged with securities fraud, obtaining property by false pretenses, felony larceny, common law forgery and common law uttering, as well as felony violations of state securities rules.

Wilson worked as a broker at Ameriprise Financial Services in Chapel Hill, and authorities said he convinced several clients to write checks out to him so they could invest in options trading outside of the brokerage house, telling them they could double their money within a month.

Investigators said Wilson took the money for his personal use. He also sold some clients’ securities without their authorization and then transferred the proceeds out of their brokerage accounts to his benefit, investigators said.

Nine people lost a total of $220,000 between late 2005 and early 2007, authorities said.

Wilson, who was terminated by Ameriprise Financial Services in August 2007, was being held Thursday in the Orange County Jail under a $150,000 secured bond.

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