 Madigan filed a lawsuit in Sangamon County Circuit Court on Thursday
against Richard Lee Van Dyke Jr. and his financial firm, Dick Van
Dyke Financial Ltd., which operates at 1028 S. Walnut St. in
Springfield and at
www.dickvandykefinancial.com.Madigan's lawsuit alleges Van
Dyke falsely advertised and misrepresented to Springfield-area
seniors that he acts as an objective, knowledgeable and unbiased
financial expert to help them make sound choices in investing their
retirement savings.
In reality, Madigan said the goal of Van Dyke's
misrepresentations was to gain the trust of older citizens and steer
them into buying indexed annuities -- mainly insurance investment
products -- from which he earned high commissions. The attorney
general said more than 90 percent of Van Dyke's business involved
commission-based annuity sales.
Madigan also alleged that Van Dyke continued to solicit seniors
as a registered investment adviser in 2012 after failing to renew
the required registration as an investment adviser for securities.
Van Dyke also falsely advertised that he operated offices outside of
Springfield in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook and in St. Louis,
Mo., though he did not operate offices there.
"People work their entire lives to build a nest egg for
retirement. It is unconscionable for anyone to violate the trust of
seniors and potentially risk the most important investment of their
lifetime," Madigan said.
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White also commented: "As secretary of state, I am committed to
vigorously pursuing individuals who violate the laws and harm
Illinois investors, especially seniors. My Securities Department is
working in conjunction with Attorney General Madigan's office by
issuing an administrative complaint seeking to revoke Mr. Van Dyke's
investment adviser registration in Illinois and to impose fines
against him and his firm. I support Attorney General Madigan's
efforts in this case, and I remind investors to visit
AvoidtheScam.net and
always investigate before you invest."
Madigan's lawsuit is asking the court to prohibit Van Dyke from
using deceptive marketing related to the sale of annuities and to
pay back commissions earned on the sale of replacement annuities to
his victims. The lawsuit also seeks to impose civil penalties on the
defendant, based on violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and
Deceptive Businesses Practices Act, including specific penalties for
violations of the act against a person 65 years of age and older.
Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Pruitt is handling the case
for Madigan's Consumer Fraud Bureau.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan] |
