Financial Advisor Is Mounting His Defense

James P. Lewis Jr. is hiring a team of professionals to defend against accusations that his Financial Advisory Consultants was an $813-million Ponzi scheme defrauding 5,200 investors across the nation, his attorney said.

Lewis, 57, of Laguna Niguel, isn’t commenting on allegations in an FBI affidavit and Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, attorney Douglas J. Pettibone said, adding that Lewis “does look forward to the day when he can tell his side of the story on this.”

Lewis is hiring securities attorneys, forensic accountants and private investigators to respond to the FBI’s criminal investigation and the SEC’s civil complaint, Pettibone said.

A forensic accountant attempts to reconstruct financial transactions.

The FBI raided Financial Advisory’s offices in Lake Forest on Monday, carrying off documents and computers.

On Tuesday, a federal judge froze Lewis’ accounts and that of his business, acting on the SEC’s complaint. The complaint alleges Lewis used a bogus Department of Homeland Security freeze on his clients’ assets as an excuse to avoid paying more than 150 investors since June.