South Bay Man Gets 15 Years For Stock Scam

A Saratoga man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday in San Mateo County Superior Court after being convicted of taking more than $1 million from unsuspecting accounting clients in a scam that began in the 1990s, prosecutors said today.

Lewis Erving Lee, 73, was found guilty by a jury in November of 77 felony counts after prosecutors said he solicited people to invest in stocks he did not own or have the right to sell.

Judge Joseph Bergeron, who presided over the case, denied Lee probation and handed him the 15-year sentence, with one day credit for time served, prosecutors said.

According to the district attorney’s office, after working as an accountant for several decades, Lee asked clients to contribute money to an investment club he ran and to purchase securities from a Chinese company Lee did consulting work for.

Lee never purchased stocks for the investment club participants because the securities he sold in the Chinese company were options and stocks he did not own and did not have the authority to sell, prosecutors said. Instead, Lee kept the money for himself to pay his personal bills, prosecutors said.

During the trial, seven victims took the stand, as did Lee, prosecutors said.

According to the district attorney’s office, Lee’s defense team contested the prosecution’s request for him to pay $1.3 million in restitution. The case will to return to court on May 22 to set a date for the restitution hearing. Lee’s defense attorney, Charles Smith, was not immediately available for comment today on the case.

--Bay City News