Former Stockbroker Indicted in Mail Fraud : Lancaster: Ronnie Raymond Lapora is accused of bilking investors of $1 million in a securities scheme.

A former Lancaster stockbroker was indicted Tuesday on 14 counts of mail fraud for bilking investors of $1 million in a securities fraud scheme, federal officials said.

Ronnie Raymond Lapora, 40, who now lives in Washington state, was charged with selling investments in a fictitious mutual fund to more than 80 investors between 1987 and 1989, Assistant U.S. Atty. Paula A. Mabrey said. Many of the investors were from the Antelope Valley, where Lapora was based, she said.

If found guilty on all counts, Lapora faces up to 70 years in prison and a $3.5-million fine.

While employed as a regional representative in the Antelope Valley for the A.L. Williams Corp., a securities brokerage firm, Lapora began selling investments in a fictitious mutual fund called Common Sense Trust-15, Mabrey said. The fake fund was marketed using materials for a legitimate fund named Common Sense Trust Fund, sold by A.L. Williams, she said.

“He told investors that the fictitious CST-15 fund was identical, and that their investment was insured by the federal government, thereby leading investors to believe they were investing in a legitimate mutual fund,” said Charlie J. Parsons, head of the Los Angeles FBI Bureau, in a statement.

Lapora promised investors they would earn a 15% profit on their investment and provided them with genuine investor applications from A.L. Williams, Parsons said.

“He used the prospectus and the toll-free number of the real fund,” Mabrey said. “Investors would call the 1-800 number and hear about the real Common Sense Trust Fund. He told investors that they were both the same fund.”

Lapora mailed victims fake monthly and quarterly statements, which “reflected balances in accounts that did not exist, and were designed to deceive investors” into believing they were receiving the promised 15% profit, Mabrey said.

Although Lapora sold more than $1 million in investments, he never invested any of the money in any mutual fund, the FBI said.

Instead, he used most of the money for himself, using a portion to make interest payments to some investors to keep the scheme going, Mabrey said.

The scheme “initially came to light after he went through bankruptcy proceedings,” Mabrey said. Since the investigation was begun, “he has been very cooperative” with authorities, she said.

Lapora now lives in Camas, Wash., a small city on the Oregon border about 20 miles northeast of Portland. Although he has not been arrested, Mabrey said, Lapora is expected to be arraigned Monday.