Roseville Financial Advisor Pleads Guilty to Stealing Clients' Funds

The following is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice: 

 Michelle Lee Kern, 35, of Roseville, pleaded guilty [Thursday] to financial advisor fraud, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Kern was a registered investment advisor. Between December 2009 and December 2012, Kern defrauded her clients by transferring money from client accounts into her own bank accounts or credit card accounts or to accounts of her relatives.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Anderson is prosecuting the case.

Kern is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on January 30, 2014. She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.