A Cape Cod investment advisor forged signatures to steal more than $3 million from her clients’ investment and retirement accounts, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday.
Kimberly Pine Kitts of Orleans, Mass., is charged with defrauding multiple clients by forging signatures and convincing them to make fake tax payments, the SEC complaint says.
According to the complaint, Kitts engaged in a six-year scheme to steal money from her clients’ variable annuities and brokerage accounts. The scheme continued until last year when a client questioned Kitts about the dwindling balance in her account.
Through 82 unauthorized withdrawals, Kitts stole more than $3 million dollars from seven clients, and then tried to conceal her fraud through falsified account statements and other documentation, the SEC says.
Kitts used the money to pay for vacations and several luxury vehicles, according to the complaint.