A former chief compliance officer for an RIA firm in Buffalo, N.Y., has been criminally and civilly charged with swindling $483,000 from the accounts of several clients, including elderly and deceased individuals who had left assets in trusts.
The SEC said in a civil complaint filed last week that between February 2019 and May 2021, Jennifer Campbell, 47, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., engaged in a scheme where she misappropriated funds from client accounts through fraudulent checks and wire transfers.
In a parallel case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York brought criminal charges against Campbell for alleged wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The charges carry a minimum penalty of two years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine, the office said.
Neither the SEC nor the U.S. Attorney's Office identified the RIA firm she worked for, but a spokesman for Pratt Collard Buck Advisory Group in Buffalo, N.Y., confirmed that the firm was the RIA that employed Campbell.
Campbell was hired by the firm in March 2017 as the office manager, where she communicated with clients and had access to their accounts, according to the SEC. She was appointed CCO in September 2018, serving as the point person for compliance review and programs.
The firm was terminated by its broker-dealer, Raymond James & Associates, in May because of Campbell’s misconduct, according to the complaint and ADV documents. ADV documents also showed that Pratt Collard Buck Advisory Group, as of June 2021, has been registered and operating as Private Advisor Group LLC.
Kevin Keenan a spokesman for Pratt Collard Buck Advisory Group, in an email, said the firm has thoroughly reviewed and taken measures to tighten its internal controls. “As well, we have ensured that no client has sustained any financial loss as a result of the improper conduct we uncovered. On behalf of all of our clients, we are grateful for the actions taken by law enforcement and pledge our continued unwavering support to the prosecution of this matter,” he said.
Campbell, the SEC said, misused her access to clients’ accounts and made unauthorized changes. She then forged checks and other documentation, misdirecting the funds into her own brokerage account, which she maintained with the firm’s broker-dealer. She also forged automatic clearing house documentation to misappropriate client funds, the SEC said.
In one instance, Campbell forged checks and ACH documentation to steal $277,000 from a beneficiary account for a 93-year-old widow set up by her deceased husband, the SEC said. The account also was tied to accounts related to two businesses that leased certain property to a third party who paid rent by sending checks to the firm to be deposited into the respective accounts, the SEC said.
The SEC complaint said that between September 2020 and March 2021, Campbell stole about $54,500 by signing over the rent checks made out to the accounts to either her brokerage account or another account that she utilized.