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  • BBO Disciplinary Decision

In the Matter of Keith David Wellner

36 Mass. Att'y Disc. R. ___ (2020)

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No. BD-2019-062

S.J.C. Judgment of Disbarment entered by Justice Lowy on February 3, 2020.

The respondent was disbarred upon his resignation for involvement in criminal activity, including securities fraud.

Keith David Wellner, the respondent, was admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth on December 18, 1992. On February 3, 2020, the respondent was disbarred for the following conduct.

The respondent was chief operating officer, general counsel and chief compliance officer of a registered investment advisor. In 2011, the respondent participated in a complex scheme to commit fraud on investors in three of the hedge funds that his company managed. On December 18, 2017, the respondent pleaded guilty in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Investment Advisor Fraud and Securities Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; two counts of Investment Advisor Fraud in violation of l5 U.S.C. § 80; two counts of Securities Fraud in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 78; and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1349. For these felonies, the respondent was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release with conditions.

The respondent’s criminal conduct violated Mass. R. Prof. C. 8.4(b), (c), and (h).

The respondent was temporarily suspended on July 8, 2019. On December 31, 2019, the respondent filed an Affidavit of Resignation with the Board of Bar Overseers. At its meeting on January 13, 2020, the board voted to accept the respondent’s resignation and that an order of disbarment enter retroactive to July 8, 2019, the date of the respondent’s temporary suspension. On February 3, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County (Lowry, J.) accepted the respondent’s resignation and entered a Judgment of Disbarment retroactive to July 8, 2019.