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John Morrison and J.K. Simmons haven't played dramatic roles together since they were both in “Oliver” in Missoula in 1977, but they found themselves on the same side of the camera Monday as they filmed a documentary designed to cut back on investor fraud.

Morrison, of course, is the state auditor, and Simmons is Missoula's most famous actor, mainly for his television roles as Dr. Emil Skoda on “Law and Order” and Vernon Schillinger on the prison drama “Oz.”

On Monday, however, Simmons played the role of narrator in a documentary called “Fraud Under the Big Sky.” It likely won't earn him an Emmy, but it's important nonetheless, said Morrison.

“We're in the law enforcement business ... but the best way to keep crime from finding victims is education,” Morrison said of the film, which will premiere on Oct. 30.

The film will feature victims, law enforcement, investment professionals and a journalist talking about two notorious Montana investment scams. The first involved Tom O'Neill, a Butte stockbroker who overtraded without authorization the accounts of some of his clients, many of them elderly.

Prosecutors alleged that O'Neill overtraded those accounts to generate commissions, and about 40 victims collectively lost about $1 million, mostly from their retirement accounts.

O'Neill served about two years in federal prison.

The second case involved Pat Davison, a former Republican candidate for governor who later ran a Ponzi scheme that cost the firm that employed him, UBS Financial Services,

$4.5 million in restitution to the swindled investors.

Davison sold his clients a series of fake investments using money from newcomers to pay off his original investors.

Morrison said the majority of investors in those cases were elderly, but said the film will talk to all investors and all

age groups.

“We know that financial fraud affects all kinds of people,” Morrison said Monday as a Missoula crew from WestRidge Creative worked to finish the film.

The film is financed by a $96,000 grant from the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit devoted to investor education.

Simmons' work on Monday was smoothly professional and it's likely the most jarring aspect of the hourlong film will be regular Montanans talking about being swindled by men they thought they knew and could trust.

Morrison said the film will be shown to service groups throughout the state, as well as on network and public television.

“We're making this thing right,” he said.

 

On the Web

For more information about investor education in Montana, go to www.investsmartmt.org

Reporter Michael Moore can be reached at 523-5252 or at mmoore@missoulian.com

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