A White Plains, N.Y., financial advisor was sentenced Tuesday to 63 months in prison for swindling three clients, one of whom is disabled, out of more than $640,000, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Gregg Brie, 54, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel. In addition to the prison term, Brie was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay forfeiture and restitution, each in the amount of $642,333.33.
The U.S. Attorney's Office described Brie as an investment advisor, but SEC data showed no evidence of him being registered.
From 2016 to 2019, Brie devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain money and property from the three clients, two of whom he shared the same White Plains apartment complex with. The first victim, the document said, was confined to a wheelchair after a car accident and lived with his mother until her death in 2018. He was the sole beneficiary of his mother's estate, and his only other source of material income is monthly Social Security disability payments.
Briespent the money he obtained from his victims primarily on credit cards and a Mercedes Benz lease, according to the documents.
The court document said the man had overheard Brie speaking with another person about giving investment advice on a professional basis. Brie advised him to buy shares in Alaska Air Group Inc. because its share price was going to $100 a share. The man estimated he gave Brie about $450,000 to invest in Alaska Air Group. Brie told him that he would initially invest the funds through a brokerage account he claimed he had with a broker-dealer, the document said.
The court document said Brie eventually told the man that his Alaska Air Group shares were worth more than $8 million, and even provided him with two account numbers, which he claimed were for accounts at the broker-dealer in the man’s name.
When the man asked Brie for his money, the court document said, “Brie told him that his accounts were frozen because the stockbrokers had done something ‘sketchy’ in order to buy the shares at a lower price. When the victim attempted to contact the brokerage firm, Brie told him that he would ‘murder [him]’ if the victim attempted to contact the firm again,” the document said. It added that Brie repeated the threat at least two more times to emphasize that he meant his threats to be taken “literally, not metaphorically.”
In all, the court document said the man gave Brie more than $480,000 to invest. The man has received “relatively little money back from Brie and counsel for the custodian for the broker-dealer has told the government that it has no accounts corresponding to the account numbers,” the document said.