Baker City adviser charged in $1.6 million investment fraud scheme

A Baker City investment adviser is now facing a federal fraud case that prosecutors say stretched for nearly 17 years and drained clients of more than $1.6 million. Jeffrey Thomas Higgins, 54, made his first appearance in federal court April 16 and was released pending further proceedings.

Federal prosecutors say Higgins ran the alleged scheme from December 2007 through June 2024 while working in Baker City. He is charged by information with investment fraud. The FBI is investigating the case.

According to prosecutors, Higgins told investors he was buying stocks for them at deep discounts. Instead, they say, he bought the shares at market value, sold them without the investors’ knowledge and moved the proceeds into his personal bank account. Prosecutors also say he created fictitious annual statements that made the accounts look more profitable than they were, while having statements showing the true purchase costs sent to a post office box he controlled.

The allegations cut to the core of trust in a town where financial advisers often build business through personal relationships and long memories. Baker City’s estimated population was 10,135 in 2024, and Baker County’s was 16,750, so the collapse of confidence around one adviser can reverberate well beyond the people named in court papers. The SEC has separately alleged that Higgins misappropriated more than $800,000 worth of securities from 12 investment advisory and brokerage clients, suggesting the potential harm may be broader than the criminal case alone.

Higgins had worked in the securities industry since 1997, including with Financial West Group and later Western International Securities. Western International Securities said it discharged him in June 2024 during its own investigation, and FINRA barred him in July 2024 after a matter tied to alleged misappropriation and refusal to cooperate with requests for testimony and documents.

For Baker County residents, the warning signs are plain: promises of special access to stocks at unusually low prices, account statements that cannot be independently verified, and investments that seem to move without clear authorization. In a small market like Baker City, where one adviser can handle years of family savings, the case is a reminder to check statements against trade confirmations, ask where the money is held, and make sure another trusted financial professional can review the account before losses build up over time.