Comstock Pleads ‘No Contest’ in Securities Scam

The former chairman of a defunct Universal City investment firm that allegedly took as much as $5 million from more than 500 investors Wednesday pleaded no contest in Superior Court in Los Angeles to one felony count of violating corporate securities laws. In a criminal matter, a no contest plea is equivalent to pleading guilty.

Roy L. Comstock, 48, former head of Comstock Financial Services, faces a maximum five years in prison for selling unregistered securities. Comstock has been described by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a key figure in a broader investment scam that collected at least $10 million from more than 600 investors in 20 states.

Many of the investors were devout Christians whose trust Comstock and his associates gained. Investors included members of the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys, where Comstock once taught Sunday school, and the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Jess Moody, who hosts a local religious TV program.

Prosecutors accused Comstock of defrauding investors by promising returns of up to 30% on their money, which investors were told was to be spent buying Treasury bills. Authorities say the T-bills were never bought and that the money was instead diverted to companies and personal accounts belonging to Comstock Financial officers and associates.

Comstock, who is in Los Angeles County Jail, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5. His co-defendant in the case, David L. Wiksell, 47, who was a Comstock Financial vice president, is awaiting trial on charges of violating securities laws.