Shawn D. Baldwin
Born (1966-02-26) February 26, 1966 (age 57)
Dayton, Ohio, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFinancier
Known forfounding AIA Group (AIA) and Capital Management Group (CMG)
Websiteshawn-baldwin.com

Shawn D. Baldwin (born February 26, 1966)[1] is in federal prison for defrauding investors of $10,000,000 from 2006 to 2017.[2] He was an international financier, trader and investor. He was the chairman of AIA Group (AIA), an alternative investment firm based in Chicago, prior to being indicted for defrauding multiple investors from 2006 to 2017.[3][4]

Biography

Baldwin received a bachelor's degree from Antioch University. He later studied at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, where he received an M.F.S.[5]

Professional career

Headquartered in Chicago, Baldwin's Capital Management Group (CMG) was formed through the acquisition of several companies. First, Baldwin acquired in November 2001 MuniDirect, a broker-dealer based in Atlanta, Georgia. In December of that same year, Baldwin bought KCM Capital Management, a broker-dealer based in Anguilla but headquartered in Chicago. He also gained control of the Stature Multi-Allocation Fund, a hedge fund worth $56 million.[6] From 2002 to 2005, CMG participated in over 75 transactions for a par of over $68 billion in equity and debt transactions, which included Google and The Travelers Companies.[7]

In December 2006, the National Association of Securities Dealers (later renamed to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) expelled CMG and Baldwin, preventing the company from continuing its trade activities.[8] The expulsion and bar were overturned by FINRA adjudicators in a January 2009 decision in which they cited "contradictory" statements by the regulators. Baldwin and CMG were given a $25,000 fine and two-year suspension for not fully responding in which he did not submit a deposit ticket for a wire and a bank statement for a brokerage account.[9] This $25,000 fine made him file for bankruptcy that same year.

February 26, 2019 he was indicted by a federal jury after he swindled at least fifteen investors and lenders out of a collective $10,000,000. Baldwin’s fraud scheme began in 2006 and continued until 2017 and occurred when owned and controlled various investment firms in Chicago. He exaggerated his financial success and professional connections to fraudulently obtain more than $10 million from at least 15 investors and lenders.  Baldwin falsely claimed that their funds would be invested in stocks and other investment products, when in reality he spent the money for his own personal benefit.[10] He is currently incarcerated in federal prison in Chicago.[11]

On Monday, October 18, 2021, Baldwin was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for his financial crime by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.[12]

Media coverage and distinctions

Baldwin has been profiled in many magazines,[8] including The Economist, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Money, and Investment Dealers' Digest, and has appeared on a number of television networks, including Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, NBC, and CBS.[13] Investment Dealers' Digest named him one of the Top 40 Investment Bankers under 40.[13] In 2006, Baldwin was named one of the Top 75 Blacks on Wall Street by Black Enterprise.[14] He is a contributor to the financial articles of Fast Company[15] and Forbes. In 2006, Baldwin was the financial spokesperson for BlackBerry and the subject of commercials and a print campaign that ran in Forbes, Fortune and BusinessWeek.[5] Baldwin has been also quoted in The Wall Street Journal.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Hotlist 05: they're bold, innovative, powerful--and all under 40". Black Enterprise. 2005-12-01. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  2. ^ "FORMER BROKER SHAWN BALDWIN CONVICTED IN $10 MILLION FRAUD CASE". The Frankowski Firm. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  3. ^ "Shawn Baldwin, Chairman of AIA Group, among top business leaders attending Bloomberg Technology Conference: Code and the Corner". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg L.P. 2015-06-18. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
  4. ^ "Shawn Baldwin, Chairman of AIA Group, joins world leaders at Milken Institute Global Conference". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. 2015-05-11. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08.
  5. ^ a b Owens, Anna. "All The Right Moves: Investment Banker Shawn Baldwin Heads East- the Middle East". Bears and Bulls. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  6. ^ Hughes, Alan (2002-04-01). "On the fast track: Shawn Baldwin is building a financial services firm one acquisition at a time". BlackEnterprise. Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  7. ^ O'Connor, Colleen Marie (2006-11-27). "Investment Dealers Digest 40 Under 40". Investment Dealers' Digest.
  8. ^ a b Strahler, Steven R. (2007-06-11). "A star broker fades as creditors, NASD move in". Financial Week. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009.
  9. ^ "Opinion of the Commission: CMG Institutional Trading, LLC and Shawn D. Baldwin" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2009-01-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  10. ^ "Chicago Investment Manager Convicted on Federal Fraud Charges for Swindling $10 Million from Clients and Lenders". www.justice.gov. 2019-02-26. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-02-10.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ "Financier Facing 27 Years Denied Release Amid COVID Crisis - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  12. ^ Wire, Sun-Times Media (2021-10-20). "Chicago money manager sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for $10M fraud scheme". ABC7 Chicago. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  13. ^ a b "Speaker: Shawn Baldwin". Milken Institute. 2009-08-27. Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  14. ^ Brown, Carolyn M. (October 2006). "75 most powerful blacks on wall street". Black Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  15. ^ "Shawn Baldwin". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  16. ^ Staney, Nasil (2010-07-01). "Reality Check: Most Stock Markets Still Below '07 Highs". The Wall Street Journal. Yahoo! Finance. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2011-05-30.

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