Ex-Securities America Broker Charged With Defrauding Clients of $260K
The barred broker allegedly used the funds to pay off credit cards and gamble at multiple casinos.
A former Securities America broker who was barred from the securities industry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Securities and Exchange Commission has now been charged with seven criminal felony counts for allegedly stealing $260,000 from clients.
Jaime Westenbarger, 45, owner of Forest Hills Financial, was charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, three counts of embezzlement, and three counts of using computers to commit a crime, according to the website for Kent County’s 63rd District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. All the crimes occurred in 2018.
His arraignment is scheduled for Friday at 1:30 p.m. A probable cause conference hearing will follow Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. and a preliminary examination hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16 at 10 a.m.
Westenbarger used two clients’ funds to “pay off credit cards, gamble at various casinos in Michigan, Las Vegas and New Orleans, as well as buy items for himself and his girlfriend,” WOODTV.com reported, quoting an affidavit of probable cause that was filed with the court. Westenbarger also allegedly gave his then-girlfriend some of the money via the payment app Venmo, the report said.
Westenbarger was with six FINRA-registered firms since he entered the industry in 2003, according to his report on FINRA’s BrokerCheck website. The last of those firms was Securities America, which he joined in May 2016.
According to an Aug. 14, 2019, disclosure on his report, the representative was “discharged for violating Firm policies and procedures regarding borrowing funds from clients.”
Securities America parent company Advisor Group, Westenbarger and his attorney, Michael Norman of the Law Offices of Barton Morris, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
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