While extracting hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly San Antonio couple last year, financial adviser Jeremy McGilvrey allegedly used their money to pay Las Vegas casino debts and huge personal credit card bills and to buy a Mercedes.McGilvrey, 32, who remains in Bexar County Jail in lieu of posting $500,000 bail, also apparently used the funds invested by Thomas and Dorothy Crouch to open large brokerage accounts in his own name, according to the Texas State Securities Board.
“We see a lot of cases, but this one appears to be particularly egregious because of the age of the victims, the amount of money involved and the uses to which the money was apparently put,” said Benette Zivley, director of inspections and compliance for the securities agency.
Thomas Crouch, 94, who has Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and his wife, Dorothy, 89, who suffers from paranoia and depression, had conservatively invested assets of about $6.7 million before they crossed paths with McGilvrey in 2008.
Thomas Crouch is a retired general and former commander of Wilford Hall Medical Center.
Both now are legally incapacitated and have a court-appointed guardian.
But according to a lawsuit filed in Bexar County Probate Court, they were helpless against McGilvrey and two others, losing about $2 million after being steered into dubious investments, including stock purchases in McGilvrey's company and giving him a huge loan.
McGilvrey's investment strategy for the elderly pair was to “charge them exorbitant fees; plunder their monetary assets; convert their money for the defendant's use; and place those assets in investments that would earn the most money for the defendants and without regard to the risks to the plaintiffs,” according to the suit.
“I hope they end up in the penitentiary and I want these guys to have really rude roommates,” said James Crouch, their son and court-appointed guardian.
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Fleeced Funds Reportedly Paid to Casino
Is our lax government enforcement system allowing more and more of this kind of conduct?
ReplyDeleteThe standard modis operandi!
ReplyDeleteJeremy McGilvrey needs to be locked up for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteAnd he should be forced to pay resitution when he gets out.
Very discouraging and disappointing news. The word trust cannot be used in most situations and that is a disaster to our society and economy.
ReplyDeleteSo many victims are left without their savings and that adds up fast to a big financial drain on our nation.
The harshest punishments and full restitution is mandatory to even begin to get a handle on this tidal wave of deception for profit.
Who would know just by looking at Jeremy McGilvrey who has a criminal mind.
ReplyDeleteHow could these unsuspecting people know they were in for a con job? And the fact that he was targeting the elderly makes this criminal 10 times more disgusting and dangerous.
I know I'm jumping many years, but what happens after McGilvrey is prosecuted and convicted and sentenced to prison when his time in prison is up and he is released on society? He is out on the streets and then what? More victims?
Financial advisors are right up there with the biggest financial abusers of the elderly.
ReplyDeleteBeware.
beware:
ReplyDeleteespecially when you get those notices invitations for freebee dinner lunches hosted by a lawyer or a financial advisor who scheduled lunch or dinner at some nice local joint with a celeb thrown in as bait - throw the invite in the garbage asap its a an invinte to a hunting party for the vultures lazy sob's for years are conning to find ways bringing their prey to them to their table with promises of free meal and advice its easier for greedy sob's to get YOUR personal contact info even if you vow up n down to yourself you won't give 'em any financial info on your income and holdings I bet you they have plants in the group of invitees to get info from YOU with sneaky like with trickery especially family relationships so they know if anyone has eyes and all about the $$$$$ so watch out folks in my book everyone is on the prawl A CROOK after my wallet they can all go to H _ _ L and stuff it where the sun dont shine we're onto them