Unlicensed advisor defrauds senior out of $1M

Florida authorities have secured the conviction of an unlicensed financial advisor who defrauded an 82-year-old woman out of $1 million. According to Jeff Atwater, the state’s Chief Financial Officer, the advisor persuaded the woman to invest $50,000 in a fraudulent business venture over six years ago, followed by $100,000 a few months later. During the next four years, he convinced her to invest an additional $577,000. The women then continued to hand over her money because she feared she would lose the money already invested if she didn’t. From 2008 until his arrest in 2011, the victim was the advisor’s only client. The advisor never invested any of the woman’s money, using it instead for his personal expenses. 

A Washington State retirement advisor is facing federal mail fraud charges after he allegedly cashed out a client’s account without permission, pocketing $125,000. According to authorities, he used the money to pay for a trip to Las Vegas, for a BMW, and for other personal expenses. The advisor accessed the client’s account information by accessing proprietary information from a variable annuity company he used to work for. The advisor had already lost his license in 2012 due to forging a client’s name on paperwork.