Ex-Rubicon President Sentenced to Eight Years for $23M Fraud Scheme
Scott Mason, the former president of Philadelphia-area registered investment adviser Rubicon Wealth Management, was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for orchestrating a 10-year fraud scheme that defrauded clients of more than $23 million.
The U.S. district judge announced a sentence of 97 months in jail, followed by three years of supervised release. Mason, age 66, has also been ordered to pay nearly $25 million in restitution to his victims and more than $2.3 million to the Internal Revenue Service.
The January 2025 charges against Mason, initially brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and covered by AltsWire, included two counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and five counts of filing a false tax return. Mason pleaded guilty to the charges at the time.
According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least 2014 to 2024, Mason made unauthorized transfers of money from Rubicon clients’ accounts to his own accounts and those of his entities, Rubicon and Orchard Park Real Estate Holdings. As the complaint alleged, Mason used the money for his own purposes, including international travel, country club memberships, credit card payments, and even an ownership stake in a New Jersey shore mini-golf course.
The complaint further alleged that Mason forged clients’ signatures, made numerous misrepresentations about what he was doing with clients’ money – often claiming funds were being invested in diversified short-term bonds, according to prosecutors – and concealed his fraud for years by providing fake account statements and tax documents.
Prosecutors further revealed that Mason used some of the fraud proceeds to repay an earlier victim, from whom he had stolen over $6 million dating back to 2007, in an effort to avoid detection.
In total, prosecutors confirmed Mason diverted over $17 million from these clients. Disturbingly, Mason targeted individuals with whom he had long-standing relationships, including friends and family members, liquidating their securities without their consent.
Additionally, Mason failed to report any of his fraudulent gains on his personal income tax returns, resulting in a tax loss exceeding $3 million.
The investigation was jointly led by the FBI and the IRS-Criminal Investigation unit.
Mason previously held FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 securities licenses, and was associated with investment adviser firms and/or broker-dealers registered with the SEC, including Rubicon. Mason was Rubicon’s president and managing member during the period in question and became Rubicon’s chief compliance officer in 2016. He was also an investment adviser representative with Rubicon and gave Rubicon clients investment advice in exchange for fees during the relevant period.
In its Form ADV filed in March 2024, Rubicon reported having roughly 115 investment-advisory clients and $231 million in assets under management.
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