The twin brothers whom the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against in March for allegedly misappropriating over $5 million from at least 60 clients have now been indicted by the Justice Department.
A 16-count indictment was unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Central Islip, New York, charging investment advisors Adam Scott Kaplan and Daniel Evan Kaplan, 34, of Great Neck, New York, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, investment advisor fraud and money laundering in connection with several schemes to steal millions of dollars from their clients.
The identical twins were arrested and arraigned on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks, according to Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Christie M. Curtis, acting assistant director-in-charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
If convicted, the brothers face up to 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
"As alleged, the Kaplans engaged in years-long schemes violating the trust that their clients, some of them elderly and vulnerable, had placed in them to manage their money safely and honestly," Peace said in a statement. "The defendants lined their pockets at the victims' expense, but with their lies and frauds exposed, they will be held to account for their conduct."
According to the indictment and other public filings, between May 2018 and November 2022, the Kaplan brothers acted as investment advisors for hundreds of clients.
"The defendants used their positions of trust to misappropriate millions of dollars from their clients, some of whom were elderly and disabled," DOJ said in a news release.
The brothers used various schemes to misappropriate the victims' funds, including "overbilling for advisory fees, siphoning money from bank accounts through fraudulent advisory fee charges" and via purported "investments" that the defendants had no intention of making, according to DOJ.
In efforts to conceal their crimes, the brothers "lied to their clients about the fraudulent charges, forged their clients' signatures on documents, and made misrepresentations to financial institutions," according to DOJ.
In total, the brothers allegedly misappropriated at least $5 million, using the funds for their own personal expenses and to buy luxury goods.
