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Former Principal of AFW Wealth Advisers Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Multimillion-Dollar Fraud
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that MATTHEW D.
WEITZMAN, a former principal of AFW Asset Management, Inc., doing
business as AFW Wealth Advisers, Inc. ("AFW"), pleaded guilty
today to fraud charges related to his misappropriation of
millions of dollars from AFW investors, lying to the investors
about how their money was used, and converting their money to his
own use. WEITZMAN, 43, of Armonk, New York, entered his guilty
plea today before United States District Judge ALVIN K.
HELLERSTEIN in Manhattan federal court.
According to the Information to which WEITZMAN pleaded,
the criminal Complaint previously filed in this case, and
statements made during the guilty plea proceeding:
AFW is a financial planning and investment management
firm with offices in Purchase, New York and Natick,
Massachusetts. WEITZMAN was a co-founder of AFW, and until early
April 2009 was a Certified Financial Planner at AFW. AFW had
more than $190 million in assets under management at the end of
2008, which it held at an independent brokerage firm (the
"Brokerage Firm").
Between 2002 and March of 2009, WEITZMAN fraudulently
obtained more than $7 million of AFW investor funds and converted
those funds to his own personal use. WEITZMAN obtained the funds
by submitting forged documents to the Brokerage Firm which made
it appear as if clients had authorized him to transfer their
funds, and by lying to investors about how their funds would be
used.
WEITZMAN pleaded guilty to one count of investment
adviser fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and five counts of
wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison
and a maximum fine of the greatest of $10,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense on the investment adviser count; 20
years in prison and a fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain
or loss from the offense on each of the securities fraud counts;
and 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross
gain or loss from the offense on the wire fraud counts. WEITZMAN
is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge HELLERSTEIN on January 29,
2010.
Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission
for its assistance in the investigation of this case.
Assistant United States Attorneys JOAN LOUGHNANE and
VIRGINIA CHAVEZ ROMANO are in charge of the prosecution.
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