Financial Advisor Charged With Bilking Elderly Out of Hundreds of Thousands

The state charged Carlene B. Veara of South Yarmouth with diverting money from elderly investors to a company she controlled.

Veara, a registered representative in the Hyannis branch of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, gained power of attorney for a 98-year old investor, a woman in failing health with no known blood relatives. She then transferred more than $177.000 from the woman’s accounts to a company called Cape Cod Caretakers, of which Veara was sole executive officer, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.

Veara was also listed as beneficiary of the investor’s Morgan Stanley Smith Barney account valued at more than $600,000, and a joint owner of the investor’s bank account. None of these arrangements were disclosed to the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as required by its policies and procedures.

“Examiners have also determined that Veara has entered various forms of fiduciary relationships with multiple clients, such as a trustee of a trust, an executrix of a will, or as health care proxy – all without disclosing that relationship and associated conflicts of interest to her employer,” the complaint states.

Full Article and Source:
State Charges Cape Woman With Bilking Elders for Hundreds of Thousands