A Lapel man faces 30 Class C felony counts of securities violations for allegedly defrauding nine Madison County residents out of a collective $545,000.

Jerry K. Scott, 45, 9237 Beechwood Drive, is accused of fraudulent dealing in unregistered retirement investments, according to the probable cause affidavit testimony of Kimberly D. Haskins, a prosecution investigator with the Indiana Secretary of State, Securities Division.

“Jerry K. Scott represents one of the worst elements of white-collar crime out there,” said Secretary of State Todd Rokita in a statement.

Scott is the co-founder of Retirement Planners of America Inc. (RPA), an Indianapolis business which Haskins says he used to sell unregistered securities as an unregistered agent while misrepresenting the value of those investments to his clients.

Specifically, Indiana law says that anyone selling “securities” — a term that covers investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds and much more — must register those items with the Secretary of State’s Securities Division and register themselves as dealers of those items.

Haskins claims that Scott did neither, nor did he give his clients accurate information about the nature and worth of their investments.

These activities allegedly ran from Jan. 7, 2003 to Oct. 11, 2005, and involved the defrauding of nine individuals leading to 10 counts each of the sale of unregistered securities, the sale of securities by an unregistered agent and fraudulent acts relating to the sale of securities.

“The cooperation between our office’s Prosecution Assistance Unit and Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings’ office made it possible to take the first steps in holding this man accountable for his crimes, as well as protecting the integrity of commerce in Indiana,” Rokita said.

Rokita created the Prosecution Assistance Unit in 2004 in an effort to quell the rise of corporate abuses such as those exemplified by the Enron scandal.

“It’s designed to go after the worst of the worst in white-collar crime,” said A.J. Feeney-Ruiz, communications director for the secretary of state. It should also assist county prosecutors, who sometimes lack the experience and resources to thoroughly investigate white-collar crimes.

“We have these kinds of white-collar crimes in our community, but this is certainly the worst case I’ve seen in my 12 years as prosecutor,” Cummings said.

He added that his office appreciated the teamwork involved. While the state’s investigators had developed the civil side of the case extensively, they needed help from Cummings’ office to work the criminal side, namely because the Secretary of State’s office has no jurisdiction in criminal cases.

“Their expertise was very helpful, particularly because it’s not the kind of criminal case we’re used to dealing with,” Cummings said.

According to Feeney-Ruiz, the charges against Scott relate to his hosting investment workshops, gaining the trust of investors there and issuing unregistered securities.

Although RPA claimed on its Web site that it was “The Home of Retiring Younger with More Security,” Scott is now accused of embezzling upwards of $500,000 and, if convicted and sentenced consecutively, faces up to 240 years in prison.

According to a Feb. 12 New York Post online business report, RPA filed for bankruptcy because it had overextended itself with insurance acquisitions and could not repay $1.5 million in debt.

Madison County Criminal Magistrate Stephen Clase set Scott’s bond at $10,000.