Fraud was perpetrated by moving proceeds from sale of securities and insurance policies from clients’ accounts to his own
An ex-advisor has been sentenced to an eight-and-a-half prison term for stealing almost US$4 million from his clients.
According to a report by Financial Advisor IQ, Gerald Allan Eaton pleaded guilty in September to one count of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, in relation to his fleecing of more than 20 clients out of more than $3.7 million from at least 1999 through October 2019.
Eaton moved the proceeds from the sale of securities and insurance policies in his clients’ accounts to accounts that he owned or controlled. He was ordered to pay more than $3.8 million in restitution and close to $1.7 million in prejudgment interest. He faced up to 20 years behind bars.
Eaton, of Massachusetts, U.S. was a certified financial planner under the Heritage Financial Group and also an associated person of the Commonwealth Financial Network from March 1995 to October 2019. He was discharged from the firm in October 2019 over allegations of “forgery, wrongful taking of property”.
