NEW YORK – A former JPMorgan Chase
investment adviser was arrested Thursday on charges he stole $20
million from customers and spent the funds on unprofitable trading and
other personal expenses.
Michael Oppenheim, 48, took money from at
least seven bank clients in a fraud scheme he operated from March 2011
to March 2015, federal prosecutors alleged.
He was arrested Thursday at his Livingston, N.J., home and brought to Manhattan federal court for an initial hearing, authorities said.
Oppenheim worked as a JPMorgan investment adviser from February 2002 through last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a civil complaint. He advised approximately 500 clients who collectively kept roughly $89 million in assets under his management, according to a criminal complaint filed by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
FBI
Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez said Oppenheim allegedly
concealed clients' funds "in a game of hide-and-seek and personally
benefited from illegitimately obtained profits."
Robert Gamburg, an attorney representing Oppenheim, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
JPMorgan
Chase spokesman Michael Fusco said the bank terminated Oppenheim last
month, alerted federal authorities and began working with affected
customers.
"We are sorry and angry that this happened," Fusco said
in a statement issued by the nation's largest bank Thursday. "We always
stand by our customers and will ensure no customer who had their money
stolen will lose any funds related to this."
According to the
criminal complaint, Oppenheim persuaded clients to allow transfers as
large as millions of dollars from their accounts with promises he would
invest the funds in low-risk municipal bonds held in a JPMorgan account.
In other instances, he allegedly withdrew hundreds of thousands of
dollars from client accounts without notification or authorization.
Prosecutors
charged that Oppenheim used the funds to obtain cashier's checks he
deposited in at least three online brokerage accounts he or his wife,
Alexandra Oppenheim, held at other financial institutions. The
investment adviser "lost the bulk of the stolen funds in highly
unprofitable options trading," the SEC civil complaint charged.
Oppenheim also used some of the money to pay personal expenses, such as a home loan and other bills, prosecutors alleged.
He
tried to hide the scheme by giving some clients fraudulent account
statements that reflected bonds held by other JPMorgan customers,
federal prosecutors charged. On several occasions, he allegedly withdrew
funds from one client's account and shifted it to another in an effort
to prevent the scheme's discovery.
Criminal charges against
Oppenheim include wire fraud, embezzlement, securities fraud and
investment adviser fraud. He could face a maximum 30-year prison term if
convicted on the embezzlement count.
The SEC court complaint seeks an order requiring Oppenheim to disgorge all ill-gotten gains.
The
financial regulator also named Alexandra Oppenheim as a relief
defendant in the case because some of the money went to a broker account
in her name, while other funds went to joint bank accounts she held
with her husband.
Source:
THE
HAGUE, Netherlands - Canada is contributing $3.3 million to support
measures to combat cybercrime in central America and the Caribbean.
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement today at an international Internet security conference in the Netherlands.
Nicholson says $2.8 million will go towards a joint project with Interpol to strengthen the region's Internet infrastructure, while the rest will go towards a United Nations effort to combat Internet crimes against children.
He says the goal is to ensure the Internet remains a safe and reliable place to conduct business and interact with people around the world.
Nicholson also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, at the conference, where the two discussed Ukraine's current political and security challenges.
Canada is sending at least 200 members of the Canadian Forces to Ukraine to take part in a two-year deployment, part of a U.S.-led military training mission to improve the combat skills of troops there.
- See more at: http://www.yorktonnews.com/community/canada-offers-3-3m-to-effort-to-fight-cybercrime-in-central-america-caribbean-1.1826258#sthash.ZnRL0w5D.dpuf
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement today at an international Internet security conference in the Netherlands.
Nicholson says $2.8 million will go towards a joint project with Interpol to strengthen the region's Internet infrastructure, while the rest will go towards a United Nations effort to combat Internet crimes against children.
He says the goal is to ensure the Internet remains a safe and reliable place to conduct business and interact with people around the world.
Nicholson also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, at the conference, where the two discussed Ukraine's current political and security challenges.
Canada is sending at least 200 members of the Canadian Forces to Ukraine to take part in a two-year deployment, part of a U.S.-led military training mission to improve the combat skills of troops there.
- See more at: http://www.yorktonnews.com/community/canada-offers-3-3m-to-effort-to-fight-cybercrime-in-central-america-caribbean-1.1826258#sthash.ZnRL0w5D.dpuf
THE
HAGUE, Netherlands - Canada is contributing $3.3 million to support
measures to combat cybercrime in central America and the Caribbean.
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement today at an international Internet security conference in the Netherlands.
Nicholson says $2.8 million will go towards a joint project with Interpol to strengthen the region's Internet infrastructure, while the rest will go towards a United Nations effort to combat Internet crimes against children.
He says the goal is to ensure the Internet remains a safe and reliable place to conduct business and interact with people around the world.
Nicholson also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, at the conference, where the two discussed Ukraine's current political and security challenges.
Canada is sending at least 200 members of the Canadian Forces to Ukraine to take part in a two-year deployment, part of a U.S.-led military training mission to improve the combat skills of troops there.
- See more at: http://www.yorktonnews.com/community/canada-offers-3-3m-to-effort-to-fight-cybercrime-in-central-america-caribbean-1.1826258#sthash.ZnRL0w5D.dpuf
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement today at an international Internet security conference in the Netherlands.
Nicholson says $2.8 million will go towards a joint project with Interpol to strengthen the region's Internet infrastructure, while the rest will go towards a United Nations effort to combat Internet crimes against children.
He says the goal is to ensure the Internet remains a safe and reliable place to conduct business and interact with people around the world.
Nicholson also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, at the conference, where the two discussed Ukraine's current political and security challenges.
Canada is sending at least 200 members of the Canadian Forces to Ukraine to take part in a two-year deployment, part of a U.S.-led military training mission to improve the combat skills of troops there.
- See more at: http://www.yorktonnews.com/community/canada-offers-3-3m-to-effort-to-fight-cybercrime-in-central-america-caribbean-1.1826258#sthash.ZnRL0w5D.dpuf
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