Mr. Buckets of Money

In September of 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged that nationally syndicated radio personality Raymond Lucia Sr. was spreading misleading information to potential investors at seminars.

Lucia had told participants that his "Buckets of Money" strategy had been empirically backtested, or evaluated how it would have done under past conditions. But they weren't authentic backtests, said the SEC.

On July 8 of last year, Lucia was banned from the investment business and fined. In 2010, he had sold his main company to his son, Raymond Lucia Jr. Annual audits filed with the SEC show the firm is prospering despite the negative press.

For the year ended 2012, Lucia Securities LLC lost $540,641 on commission income of $13.6 million. But in 2013, the firm's net income zoomed to $3.1 million on commission income of $15.6 million.

Raymond Lucia Sr. has filed for a review of the SEC decision, and it is now under review.