The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against the former chief compliance officer of a closed investment advisory firm in upstate New York, Pratt Collard Buck Advisory Group. The officer was convicted of wire fraud the previous year and was recently sentenced to three years in prison.
Last November, Jennifer Campbell, office manager, and chief compliance officer at an investment advisory firm based in Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Between 2018 and 2021, Campbell, aged 48, misused her position to embezzle over $500,000 from clients and the firm. She accomplished this by writing checks from client accounts and depositing them into her personal account, using forged signatures of clients or firm principals. Additionally, Campbell executed unauthorized sales of securities in one client account, converting the proceeds for her personal use.
In addition to the three-year prison sentence in the criminal matter, Campbell was ordered by the Department of Justice to make restitution in the amount of $371,000 and ordered to forfeit $357,000.
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