An Independence, Mo., financial advisor was sentenced to five years and three months in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to defrauding two elderly clients of more than $1 million.
Kraig Gier, 59, who operated a business called Security Planning Corporation, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City,, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for that district.
On Jan. 31, Gier pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, admitting that he stole $1,087,964 from his clients, aged 96 and 84. According to court documents, his scheme depleted the life savings of these clients, causing $879,602 in losses to one and $208,362 to the other.
Gier began withdrawing assets from his clients’ investment accounts in February 2015, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, depositing the money into his personal checking or business accounts. He continued making these withdrawals until July 2018.
As part of his scheme, Gier would sometimes forge the signatures of his victims on paperwork associated with withdrawal requests, and sometimes include a fraudulent voided check with his victim’s name but his personal or business account numbers as the intended recipient of requested funds, according to the release.
To cover up the scheme, Gier prepared false documentation, purportedly from the company holding his clients’ investments, that indicated they were making a significant profit, despite having significantly depleted their accounts.
As a result of Gier’s scheme, one of his victims had to move out of the family home she and her husband had lived in for many years, according to the release.
Prior to becoming an advisor, Gier was registered as a broker from 1994 to 2013. There are no disclosures on his Finra BrokerCheck record. According to his investment advisor public disclosure, Gier has not registered with the SEC at any point during his career.