U.S. DOJ files criminal charges against former Wausau broker, investment agent

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The Wausau investment agent and broker who was barred from the industry last year is now facing felony criminal charges in federal court, a day after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed its own set of charges against Tony Liddle for violating its laws.

Liddle owned Prosper Wealth Management between Dec. 2016 through May 2022 when local, state, and federal investigations began finding violations, stripping him of his licenses and barring him from operating in the securities industry. The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions found he had taken $1.9 million from his clients.

Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed felony criminal charges of one count of money laundering, and one count of fraud. The criminal complaint uses much of the same evidence as in the Wis. DFI and SEC court records. It added Liddle had transferred at least $150,000 from the PWM account to his personal account, which the DOJ stated amounted to a wire fraud scheme.

It states Liddle designed the transaction “in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, ownership, control, and source of the proceeds of the specified unlawful activity and that while conducting the financial transaction he knew that the funds involved in the financial transaction represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity.”

Liddle accepted a plea agreement, pleading guilty to both charges. The charges together carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, a $750,000 fine, six-year period of supervised release, a $200 special assessment, and the appropriate restitution with the DOJ asking for at least the more than $1.9 million taken from victims.

7 Investigates first reported Liddle’s actions in December. See the full report here.

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