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The CEO of a monetary advisory agency pled responsible final week to costs together with embezzling greater than $313,000 from shoppers and utilizing worker contributions to the agency’s 401(ok) plan for each private and firm use.
Adam Belardino, who led the New York-based agency The Maddox Group, final week additionally pled responsible to 2 counts of wire fraud and one rely of creating a false assertion to the IRS in reference to schemes to defraud shoppers and failing to pay the workers’ retirement contributions. He faces as much as 45 years in jail.
In response to the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York, Belardino began a retirement financial savings plan on behalf of the Maddox Group staff, efficient at the start of 2020 and served because the trustee of the plan. He pled responsible to failing to deposit a bit over $8,000 into the plan’s belief account that he had withheld from the paychecks of the 4 Maddox staff apart from himself who participated within the plan.
The U.S. Lawyer’s workplace stated Belardino as a substitute transformed the funds meant for the 401(ok) plan for his private use and for the corporate’s use. And the cost of creating a false assertion to the IRS stems from Belardino authorizing the retirement plan administrator to file an IRS type by which he falsely answered that there was no failure to transmit to the plan any participant contributions.
Belardino additionally pled responsible to embezzling greater than $313, 000 from one his shoppers. In response to an unsealed indictment, Belardino had managed the consumer’s investments at one other agency earlier than he based Maddox in July 2019. That following month, he satisfied the consumer to liquidate a few of her portfolio and switch the funds to Maddox to take a position. Nonetheless, the indictment stated that as a substitute of investing the consumer’s cash, he used it to pay his firm’s working bills, together with payroll and workplace lease, private journey, and private bank card costs.
The indictment stated that the consumer instructed Belardino to switch her portfolio at Maddox to a different agency; nevertheless, regardless of telling the consumer and her members of the family he was liquidating the portfolio and would return the funds shortly, the consumer by no means acquired any funds by wire, and the checks Belardino had deposited had been returned on account of inadequate funds.
Belardino additionally pled responsible to acquiring fraudulent life insurance coverage commissions. In response to U.S. Lawyer’s workplace, Belardino served because the agent for an unnamed insurance coverage firm in reference to an utility by one other consumer for a life insurance coverage coverage with a face quantity of $1 million, which was ultimately elevated to $18 million. As an agent, Belardino acquired commissions from the insurance coverage firm as soon as the consumer’s utility was authorised.
Belardino additionally utilized for 2 extra life insurance coverage insurance policies on behalf of the consumer with out their data or authorization with a face worth of $3 million and $5 million respectively. Whereas making use of for the insurance policies, Belardino lied in regards to the consumer’s web price and well being, and elevated the face quantity of 1 insurance coverage coverage to $6 million and the opposite to $12.1 million once more with out data or authorization. He additionally paid and tried to pay the coverage premiums of $194,280 and $105,000 respectively with the consumer’s funds, whereas on the similar time receiving almost $200,000 in commissions.
Belardino, 37, pled responsible to 2 counts of wire fraud, every of which carries a most sentence of 20 years in jail, and one rely of creating a false assertion to the Inner Income Service, which carries a most sentence of 5 years in jail.
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