A former New Jersey financial advisor has pleaded guilty to defrauding his parents out of more than $1.3 million while serving as their financial advisor, New Jersey Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced today.
Hugh R. Hunsinger Jr., 49, of Pine Brook, N.J., pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree theft in a plea bargain. As part of the deal, the attorney general will recommend that Hunsinger be sentenced to three to five years in state prison and that his insurance producer license be suspended for five years. In addition, Hunsinger has agreed to pay his parents $1.3 million.
“For years, the victims in this case believed that their son was investing money on their behalf,” Hoffman said. “Instead, he was siphoning their money for his own benefit.”
Hunsinger admitted that between 2005 and 2011 he secretly transferred $1.3 million from accounts he was managing for his parents to his personal accounts and used the money for his living expenses. Hunsinger worked as a financial advisor for Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation at the time.
Hunsinger left his parents with only a nominal amount of money in their accounts, Hoffman said.