Ex-LPL Broker Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Stealing $1.3M From Client

News October 09, 2023 at 03:04 PM
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A former LPL Financial broker was sentenced on Oct. 2 to five years in prison for one count of securities fraud, five years in prison for one count of aggravated theft and five years in prison on one count of identity fraud, for a total of 15 years, David P. Fornshell, Warren County, Ohio prosecutor, announced.

Patrick Noel Thayer defrauded a Warren County client, stealing more than $1.31 million from her investment proceeds, according to Fornshell.

Patrick Noel Thayer was also ordered to pay a balance of over $1 million in restitution to the cleient, Fornshell said.

In 2013, Thayer, 48, of Lebanon, Ohio, opened a bank account in the client's name without her knowledge or consent, according to Fornshell. He then started selling securities from her brokerage account and transferred the proceeds to the new bank account, from which he used the proceeds for his own personal expenses.

Those expenses included a down payment on his home, mortgage payments, car loans, credit card expenses, and the purchase of a "tiny" house in Colorado for a family member, according to Fornshell.

LPL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The victim became aware of the fraud in 2022 when she was contacted by the Internal Revenue Service about the bank account that Thayer had opened in her name, Fornshell said.

The Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Securities investigated the case and referred it to Fornshell's office for prosecution.

In addition to serving as a broker and advisor for LPL from 2020-2022, according to his report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck website, Thayer operated a tax preparation service known as Broadway Financial Solutions in downtown Lebanon, Fornshell said.

Thayer worked as a securities salesperson for various brokerage firms and was later licensed as an investment advisor. He is no longer registered as either a broker or advisor, according to BrokerCheck.

In November 2022, Thayer was barred from associating with any FINRA member in any capacity after he failed to respond to FINRA's requests for information during an investigation into a client's allegation that he misappropriated funds from her account.

Photo Credit: FINRA.

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