Cheshire Man Accused Of Stealing $300K From Client

CHESHIRE, CT — A Cheshire man who worked as an investment adviser is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from a client, according to federal authorities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed an emergency action this week charging investment adviser Matthew O. Clason, 38, of Cheshire, with stealing thousands of dollars from an advisory client, authorities announced in a news release. The SEC is seeking an asset freeze and other relief.

Beginning in Feb. 2019, Clason is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from his client, a retired 73-year-old New Britain resident, according to the SEC.

According to the SEC's complaint, Clason “perpetrated the fraud by liquidating securities in the client's accounts, transferring the proceeds from the sales to a bank account held jointly with the client for investment purposes and to facilitate the payment of miscellaneous monthly expenses, and withdrawing cash from the account on numerous occasions and at different bank locations,” officials wrote in a news release.

“The complaint alleges that the client did not know of or approve the withdrawals and did not receive the cash that Clason withdrew.”

In addition to providing investment services, Clason cultivated a personal relationship with the victim. He drove the victim to various appointments and ran errands for them, according to the complaint. They would sometimes meet as many as five times a week and the victim considered Clason a good friend.

Since the victim doesn’t drive and has limited mobility, along with other health conditions, Clason and the victim established a joint bank account so he would have access to the account for investment purposes and to cover miscellaneous monthly expenses. The victim also asked Clason at times to withdraw cash from the joint bank account.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Connecticut, claims that Clason’s “scheme to sell securities and misappropriate the proceeds breached his fiduciary duty” to the client and “operated as a fraud or deceit” upon the victim.

The SEC is requesting that the court enter an order “freezing Clason's assets and requiring an accounting,” the news release states. “The SEC also seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.”

Clason was fired in August from the financial firm he was associated with, according to court documents.