advertisement

Authorities arrest Woodridge man wanted on fraud charges on resort island

A Woodridge man has been arrested on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on charges of investment fraud stemming from a purported investment advisory business he ran in the Chicago area, authorities said Friday.

Marcus Beam, 50, is accused of misappropriating about $500,000 from investors and spending it on personal and business expenses, according to the federal Securities Exchange Commission.

The SEC last September filed a complaint against Beam in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleging he violated several laws by lying about his status as a licensed securities professional, misappropriating client funds, sending falsified account statements and failing to return funds that clients requested to redeem.

Police in Bali arrested Beam on Friday, where chief Petrus Reinhard Golose said Beam had been making and selling sex videos to support his living expenses.

Golose said Beam apparently left the U.S. using a passport under the name of Demario Faulkner.

Federal authorities declared Beam a fugitive from justice for not showing up in court for the investment fraud case in February and did not want him to leave the Northern Illinois District, let alone the country, according to federal court records.

The SEC case against Beam alleges that he has never been registered with the commission as an investment adviser, yet he oversaw as many as eight telemarketers at a Lombard office who made cold calls seeking participants in an automated investment platform, according to a 16-page complaint.

The complaint said Beam later outsourced the telemarketing work overseas using a script he wrote, which said investments “will be professionally monitored and maintained by your member management team.”

Beam introduced himself as an investor in early 2018, when he approached the liquor commission in Naperville seeking a liquor license for a virtual reality entertainment center he wanted to open that was to be called VR 360 Playground.

According to DuPage County, Will County and federal court records, Beam has had multiple run-ins with the law at various levels in the past.

Records show one case in federal bankruptcy court; a 1993 eviction in DuPage County; two 2005 small-claims cases in Will County; a 2008 small-claims lawsuit for failing to pay roughly $4,300 to an architect who designed an office for him in Woodridge; a 2018 lawsuit over $96,700 in unpaid rent for an office space in Villa Park; and 11 traffic cases in DuPage County, in addition to the federal SEC case.

Authorities in Bali paraded Beam out during a news conference Friday in the provincial capital of Denpasar, where police said they seized evidence including passports, a folding knife, 14 sex toys, five cellphones and 13 other electronic devices during his arrest late Thursday.

Bali police said there is no extradition agreement between Indonesia and the U.S., but the countries have police cooperation arrangements that could allow Beam to be deported back to the U.S.

A cellphone number Beam provided in 2018 was no longer in service Friday.

-- The Associated Press and Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.