MonticelloLive

The head of the Arkansas Securities Department said the agency would make it a priority to protect senior citizens from unethical investment advisors.

About half the complaints received by the agency are from senior citizens who bought investments after being pressured by salesmen. A common practice is to invite the elderly to a free lunch combined with an investment seminar. After lunch, the salesmen use high pressure tactics to sell investments that generally are not appropriate for the elderly because they are too risky.

Sometimes the financial vehicles may be legal, but they are better suited for younger people or richer people who can afford a riskier investment strategy. In some cases the salesmen actually commit fraud because they portray the investments as being something they are not. For example, they say the investment is as secure as a certificate of deposit, only with a higher rate of return.

The director of the Securities Department advised special caution when salesmen try to complete deals before the senior citizens can get advice from their children or others.

The Securities Department has 38 employees who enforce state laws against fraudulent or misleading sales of securities and monetary transactions. Besides investigating fraudulent securities dealers, they also look into complaints about mortgages, credit unions and burial insurance.

To give an example of how aggressive some salesman can be, the director said that even investigators in his office have received e-mails promoting fraudulent schemes.

Prisons May Expand Act 309 Inmate Worker Program

The state Board of Correction, which oversees prison units, will form a committee to study a proposed expansion of the Act 309 program.
Currently about 280 inmates are in the program.

They stay in county jails rather than in state prison units, and they work for local government under the supervision of the sheriff or other local law enforcement. They cook, do laundry and maintain vehicles. Sometimes they help build new structures, such as an addition to the local jail.

The state pays counties $15 per day for each inmate in the Act 309 program, although some sheriffs have said they would house the inmates without reimbursement because their free labor is so valuable to the county.

Ethics Commission Appointment

Senator Jack Critcher of Batesville, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, has appointed Steve Bryant of Batesville to the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Bryant is a pharmacist. His term will be for five years.

The five-member commission enforces laws governing financial disclosure by elected officials, and laws regulating political contributions. The commission was created by an initiated act approved by Arkansas voters in a statewide election in 1990.

Each of its members is appointed by a different elected official. One is appointed by President Pro Tem of the Senate, one by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one by the Lieutenant Governor, one by the Attorney General and one by the Governor.