A former LPL broker, who was fired for her illegal activities, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for stealing $1.8 million from clients, the Colorado Division of Securities announced Monday.
Sonya D. Camarco, 46, of Colorado Springs, Colo., who was fired by LPL last year, pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud, one count of theft and one count of filing a false tax return, the Colorado agency said. She was indicted earlier for the same charges by a grand jury in Colorado. In addition to the prison term, she was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution to her victims.
Between January 2013 and May 2017, Camarco deposited checks drawn on clients’ accounts into accounts she controlled. The scheme was uncovered after LPL Financial conducted an internal investigation that started with one suspicious check drawn on a client account. It was discovered that numerous checks had been drawn on several accounts belonging to Camarco’s clients and made payable to an account she controlled called Camarco Investments.
She used the money for various personal expenditures such as credit card payments, real estate, taxes and automobile expenses, the Colorado Division of Securities said. She did not tell investors, one of whom was an elderly woman with dementia, that she was placing their money in the Camarco Investments account and using the money for herself.