A former Edina, Minn., financial advisor has been charged with swindling investors out of $1.6 million and using the money to buy properties for her real estate business, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota.
Kristi Margaret Berge, 47, charged on Friday with one count of wire fraud, is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud on March 7.
Berge was the founder and CEO of Keep Safe Investments, or “KSI Financial,” a financial planning and investment services firm that managed $28 million in assets under management, according to her firm's latest Form ADV filing. She also co-owned and operated J&K Connect, a company that invested in real estate through buying, renovating and reselling properties, prosecutors said.
From June 2020 through February 2023, Berge stole $1.6 million from some of her clients and used the money to buy multiple properties in Edina for her real estate business, prosecutors allege. Prosecutors said she did so by lying to clients by telling them she would invest their money in safe accounts such as individual retirement accounts and 401(k) retirement savings plans. But prosecutors said she repeatedly withdrew amounts between $5,000 and $22,000 of her clients’ money and moved the funds into her personal bank accounts.
Berge attempted to cover up her fraud by labeling the withdrawals as “management” or “administrative” fees, “and by creating fabricated records to give the false impression that she had authorization to withdraw clients’ investment funds,” prosecutors said.
Berge briefly worked with PKS Advisory Services, where she began her career in 2012. She began with KSI Financial, which she founded in 2013 and left at the end of last year, according to BrokerCheck. Minnesota regulators revoked her license on Feb. 13, according to her investment advisor public disclosure.
The case, the release noted, is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.