A Chicago-based advisor was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to taking $5.2 million from elderly clients to fund his lifestyle.
Daniel Glick, owner and operator of Financial Management Strategies, Glick Accounting Services and Glick & Associates, all based in Orland Park, Ill., was sentenced to 151 months in prison and ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois on April 17. Glick pleaded guilty to one count of criminal wire fraud, according to prosecutors.
In a parallel civil action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Glick was ordered by the same court, on the same day as the criminal sentencing, to pay disgorgement and civil penalties in amounts to be determined by the court.
Most of the $5.2 million belonged to elderly clients, including Glick’s own father-in-law and mother-in-law, and two individuals in nursing homes, according to a release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois.
According to prosecutors, Glick furnished forged checks and other phony documents to financial institutions, and lied to clients about the use and safety of their investments.
In a complaint filed by the SEC, Glick is alleged to have overstated the amount of investments made on clients’ behalf, exaggerated the available cash in their account and inflated the interest paid into their accounts. Account statements also misallocated clients’ investments, and did not disclose the diversion and misappropriation of their funds.
Instead of keeping client funds in segregated accounts, the SEC alleges that Glick commingled their funds with his own personal funds and the funds of his businesses, then used the money for improper purposes.
The prosecutor’s release claims that Glick used some of the stolen funds to pay for personal and business expenses, including the purchase of a Mercedes Benz automobile and payment of his mortgage.
Client funds were also misappropriated to pay two of his business associated and to make Ponzi-type payments to other clients, according to the release.