Ronald J. Perrault, 42, was convicted on grand theft and organized scheme to defraud charges associated with them, according to a release from Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. Perrault faces up to 35 years in prison at his sentencing Dec. 4.
The state Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud found that Perrault, while acting as an unlicensed financial adviser for the woman, defrauded her of $727,000 during the last five years and more than $1 million throughout the course of their relationship, the release said.
The investigation found that the woman initially invested $50,000 in Perrault’s fraudulent business in October 2007, followed by $100,000 in December 2007, according to the release. During the next four years, Perrault convinced her to invest an additional $577,000. She continued to submit to Perrault’s demands until her account was depleted. From 2008 until his arrest in 2011, the victim was Perrault’s only client and an investigation found all funds were transferred to Perrault for personal use.
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'Adviser' convicted of bilking elderly Bradenton woman out of $1 million
2 comments:
We have to watch our financial advisors; they know more about us than most anybody.
This is an issue that comes up more often than you think, it is common for the elderly to be targeted by White Collar Criminals.
There is also an issue with those that may work for say a bank and as such are working under the banks securities license and are not licensed themselves.
But when they then take on a position of Private Guardian and Financial Manger of a ward, they may also be braking securities laws if they are not a blood relative of the ward.
This is why it is usual that certain people like Bank Staff are excluded from being either a Guardian, Trustee or Financial Manager.
Most Banks and Financial Institutions have this written within there Code of Conduct, to prevent a conflict of interest and in turn an investigation by Authorities into the Bank or Financial Institution.
The Banks are in fact protecting themselves by doing so, not that they care about the ward anyway..:)
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