February 2, 2018
Massachusetts

Former investment advisors charged with fraud

By Alana Levene, Globe Correspondent | February 02, 2018 | www.bostonglobe.com

Two former investment advisors pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Boston for using more than $500,000 of their clients’ money to invest in a wind farm project and pay personal expenses, including college tuition and credit card bills, prosecutors said.

James Polese, 51, of Wenham and Cornelius Peterson, 28, of Newton were each charged with one count of conspiracy and investment-adviser fraud and three counts of bank fraud, according to a statement from the US attorney’s office.

Polese was also charged with five additional counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Both men agreed to plead guilty, according to prosecutors.

The two men were terminated from the financial services company, which was not identified, last June, the statement said.

Bloomberg identified the workplace as Morgan Stanley.

Polese and Peterson allegedly transferred sums money out of their clients’ accounts without their knowledge or consent. They invested $100,000 of that money in a wind farm project in 2014 and another $400,000 to back a letter of credit in support of that project in 2015, prosecutors said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/02/02/former-investment-advisors-charged-with-fraud/