Raleigh investment adviser found guilty in Ponzi scheme

A federal court jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Stephen Condon Peters, who owns VisionQuest Wealth Management, on the following charges:

Peters, 46, was immediately taken into custody and will be sentenced later.

His family was stunned when the verdicts were announced, both with the speed of the jury deliberations and the fact that he was convicted on all counts.

"You have a right to be mad. I'm mad, but I'm not mad at my son," Peters' father, Stephen L. Peters, said outside of court when asked what he would tell defrauded investors.

The elder Peters blamed other VisionQuest employees for the missing money.

Federal authorities said Stephen C. Peters promised investors returns of 8 to 9 percent a year on low-risk investments. Some turned over their retirement accounts to him, but prosecutors say he diverted $6 million to his own personal use and used other money to pay off earlier investors.

"When people put their trust in a financial adviser, they expect honesty and professionalism. Instead, Mr. Peters violated that trust and breached his fiduciary duties for his own personal gain. This simply will not be tolerated," U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon said in a statement.

"This is a case about greed and abuse of trust," John Strong, FBI special agent-in-charge for North Carolina, added in a statement.

During the three-week trial, former VisionQuest employees testified that they lied to clients and forged documents under Peters' direction. One former worker, Matthew Gomoll, said he even agreed to secretly record conversations with Peters because he knew Peters was doing wrong and didn't want to be part of it.

Employees also described how Peters set up a strategy to deceive federal investigators by forging and backdating disclosure forms for investors.

Testifying in his own defense Tuesday and Wednesday, Peters disputed the allegations, saying he had made some bad investments but fully intended to make good on his client obligations.

He said he made full disclosure of losses to clients and denied ever instructing employees to falsify documents.

When pressed by prosecutors, he said the dozens of investors who said they lost their retirement accounts because of Peters' actions and the employees who testified had lied, while he was telling the truth.

After finding Peters guilty, the jury compiled a list of his assets to be forfeited and sold to help repay investors, including a horse farm near Lake Wheeler and a cliffside vacation home in Costa Rica known as "The House of the Beloved Princess." The jury did allow Peters' wife to keep some artwork that she owns.

Peters' father said the family stands behind him.

"We raised Steve on two principles: Instill confidence and establish trust through communication," the elder Peters said. "He's got the confidence. He can handle the world. He will be strong, and I have no doubt that he will be preaching the Bible whenever he goes for his [prison] term."