https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/former-nj-wells-fargo-adviser-arrested-stealing-nearly-3-million-clients
More positive press for Wells Fargo! This time it was a now-former adviser for the company who is in the news for allegedly stealing almost $3 million from his clients and using the money for personal expenses and gold coins.
Adviser Kenneth A. Welsh was arrested at his home in River Edge, NJ, Thursday morning, according to Bloomberg.
He was booked on charges of "misappropriat[ing] funds from the accounts of five investors between 2016 and 2021," the report says. His victims are alleged to include some people who were "elderly and financially unsophisticated".
Welsh was fired in June of this year by Wells Fargo when his conduct was discovered, the report says.
He transferred "at least" $2.59 million from client accounts to credit cards of his family members and is accused of also drawing checks on customers accounts. Seven of the more than a dozen checks in question were made out to a New Jersey coin dealer for gold coins, the report said.
He allegedly stole $1.8 million from one single victim who lives in Whitehouse, NJ, the report said. That victim had established a brokerage account with Walsh at his previous business and then followed him to Wells Fargo, Bloomberg noted.
Now, he is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He was freed on bail after making an initial appearance earlier this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre.
Welsh is also facing a concurrent civil suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson commented: “At Wells Fargo we hold our employees to the highest ethical standards. We notified regulators of this matter, the financial adviser was terminated, and we are working directly with clients to reimburse them.”