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James J. Craig, 90, investors' protector

James J. Craig, of Bryn Mawr, an accountant who helped protect Pennsylvania consumers from fraud, died Friday of pneumonia at his daughter Patricia's home in Cambridge, Mass.

James J. Craig, of Bryn Mawr, an accountant who helped protect Pennsylvania consumers from fraud, died Friday of pneumonia at his daughter Patricia's home in Cambridge, Mass.

Mr. Craig, who turned 90 in October, retired last month after 38 years with the Pennsylvania Securities Commission.

As the commission's chief accountant, he reviewed financial statements filed in conjunction with applications to sell securities, and assisted the commission's enforcement division with cases by reviewing and summarizing financial information.

In the late 1990s, Mr. Craig was involved in investigating the finances of Greater Ministries International of Tampa, Fla. The organization collected a half-billion dollars from people all over the United States in a scam promising to double their money on investments that ministry officials said were blessed by God.

In 1998, aided by Mr. Craig's findings, the Securities Commission and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection obtained an injunction to stop solicitations by Greater Ministries, whose leaders were eventually arrested and sentenced to prison.

During his career, Mr. Craig uncovered several scams and recovered millions of dollars for investors, said Michael J. Byrne, the commission's chief counsel and former director of enforcement.

"He was the state's secret weapon, nobody else had an analyst like him," said Byrne. "He was an unassuming, consummate professional who took pride in public service."

Mr. Craig and his three siblings were raised by a widowed mother in South Philadelphia. His Depression-era upbringing left him with compassion for the less fortunate, his daughter said, and in his work with the Securities Commission he was incensed by frauds that preyed on the elderly and the unsophisticated.

After graduating from Southeast Catholic, now Neumann-Goretti High School, Mr. Craig earned a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and later earned a master's degree in business administration from Drexel University.

During World War II, he was an accountant with the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. In 1948 he joined Jerrold Electronics, a pioneer cable-television systems provider, and began a long association with Jerrold's founder, Milton Shapp. Mr. Craig was a member of the transition team when Shapp was elected governor in 1970, and was a financial adviser when Shapp campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976.

Mr. Craig, who experienced mental illness in his family, was a longtime member of the board and former treasurer of the Main Line chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Mr. Craig had been a vegetarian for health and ethical reasons since the 1950s. He displayed an old-fashioned formality and wore a suit and tie even on weekends, but was an adventurous traveler, his daughter said. He and his wife, Ruth Hutchison Craig, visited Europe, Asia, and Africa, and years ago traveled down the Amazon with their two daughters.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a daughter, Eileen, and nieces and nephews. His wife of 42 years died in 2001.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday at Our Mother of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church, 31 Pennswood Rd., Bryn Mawr. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.