A former registered broker and advisor pleaded guilty to wire fraud as part of a scheme in which she stole more than $500,000 from several clients and from the firm itself, Trini E. Ross, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, said Wednesday.
Jennifer Campbell, 47, of Niagara Falls, New York, pleaded guilty to the one charge before Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo on Oct. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in Buffalo, according to court documents.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to Ross.
Campbell's sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2023, at 1 p.m. before Judge Vilardo.
Campbell was a registered broker with Wells Fargo Advisors from November 2012 to August 2015, according to her report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck website.
Ross didn't identify Campbell's broker-dealer by name, and the Justice Department didn't identify the firm by name in its May 31, 2022, indictment against the former registered rep, only referring to the company she worked at as "Advisory Firm 1."
Campbell was "employed by Investment Advisory Firm 1 from approximately 2017 until approximately May 2021" as its office manager and then, "beginning in approximately 2018, also served" as its chief compliance officer, the indictment said.
She had access to client accounts and, between November 2018 and May 2021, Campbell used that access to "steal over $500,000 from several clients and from the firm itself, primarily by writing checks from client accounts, forging the signatures of either the client or a principal at the firm, and then depositing the checks into her own personal account," Ross said.
