Maryland's attorney general alleged Wednesday that a Baltimore man had defrauded investors of nearly $500,000 and ordered him to stop selling securities and acting as an investment advisor, activities for which he was not registered.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is seeking fines and a permanent ban from the securities industry for Casey Charles and his company, Infinite Equity Strategies LLC.

In a cease-and-desist order, the state accused Charles of transferring retirement funds of investors to an out-of-state company, which later transferred the money to his own bank accounts. The state further alleged that Charles had used fraudulent account statements to conceal his actions from investors.