47-year-old Renee Marie Brown was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

 3:01pm

http://goldenvalley.patch.com/articles/golden-valley-woman-indicted-for-defrauding-investors-out-of-750000

A Golden Valley investment adviser was indicted in federal court Thursday for defrauding investors out of $750,000 and using the money to buy a condo and pay credit card bills.

The indictment charges 47-year-old Renee Marie Brown with five counts of securities fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.

According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office Thursday afternoon, the indictment says Brown created Investors Income Fund X, LLC, a limited liability company, two years ago, and had people invest in Fund X.

The indictment states that Brown told investors that Fund X was a “bond fund” with an eight or nine-percent rate of return, and that she had invested $200,000 of her own money in the fund. According to the indictment, Fund X never was a bond fund, and Brown never invested any of her own money in Fund X.

The indictment goes on to state that Brown allegedly used more than $500,000 of the investors’ funds for her personal use, including buying a condominium and paying credit card bills.

If convicted, Brown faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each securities fraud and wire fraud count and a potential maximum penalty of ten years for money laundering.