Deerfield Financial Adviser Sentenced To Prison For $900K Fraud

DEERFIELD, IL — A Deerfield investment adviser has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for a five-year fraud involving forged checks that cheated a client out of nearly $1 million. William P. Carlson, 54, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud in August. He was sentenced Tuesday to 55 months in prison and one year of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $911,000 in restitution, according to the Department of Justice.

Carlson was charged with making dozens of unauthorized withdrawals from the account of a 63-year-old woman who had entrusted him to manage her finances between November 2012 and December 2016. The former partner at Lombard-based Forum Financial Management also worked for Ehlert Financial Group of Lincolnshire until his scheme was discovered in February.

According to complaints from the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors, Carlson sent out faked account statements to hide the fact he was draining his client's accounts.

He would even make sure checks got delivered to his client's home while she wasn't there so he could show up, pick up the checks and forge her signature before depositing them into his personal accounts.

Anytime there was an issue with the client's checks – like a $3,500 payment that was supposed to be for $35,000 – Carlson would blame his brokerage.

Eventually, an investigation was opened after the client contacted the company to ask about her account balance and was told she only had $48 in the account even though Carlson had sent her a statement saying she had nearly $885,000, according to the complaint.

The firm's compliance officer met with Carlson in February in a conversation recorded by the FBI, prosecutors said. He was allegedly caught on tape saying he had taken money from his clients account to fund his lifestyle and admitting to doing so for five years.

"You know, it starts out small," he said, according to the feds. "You think you are going to pay it back[.]" Carlson allegedly said he decided to take money from the victim because it was "easy."

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