A Richmond, Va.-area financial advisor was sentenced to prison after admitting to embezzling more than $500,000 from his mostly elderly, retired clients.
Troy Baldridge, senior vice president and director of managed investments at a hybrid firm in Glen Allen, Va., was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud. Baldridge transferred his clients’ funds into his own account for personal use.
Baldridge was dually registered as a broker-dealer representative and a financial advisor, but the U.S. District Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia did not release the name of his firm in announcing his sentencing, according to court documents. FINRA’s BrokerCheck indicates that Baldridge was registered Capital Securities Management in Richmond from August 2007 to August 2016.
Baldridge confessed to transferring funds from client investment accounts to his own accounts at least 15 times between September 2011 and July 2016. Over the five years, he skimmed $543,206 from client accounts, according to the criminal complaint.
To facilitate the embezzlement, he forged signatures, avoided suspicious clients and lied when confronted about suspicious transactions, according to the complaint.
Finra permanently barred Baldridge from the securities industry in September 2016.
In addition to his prison term, Baldridge will also have to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to his clients.