Financial Adviser Who Ripped Off Clients for Almost $2M Sentenced to More Than 6 Years in Jail

A Wilmette investment adviser who admitted to scamming almost $2 million from clients and then gambling with that money at local casinos was sentenced to more than six years in jail, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Alan H. Gold, 61, was arrested in June of 2015 and charged with five counts of wire fraud, which he pleaded guilty to in January of 2016. On Wednesday, Aug. 31, Gold was given a 75-month jail sentence and ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution.

Between January 2008 and until the time of his arrest in 2015, Gold was given money by a number of clients who believed the adviser was investing the cash in high-yield stocks, real estate funds and other investment products. Instead, he was pocketing the money and using it to gamble and cover personal expenses. If clients questioned Gold about the investments, he would tell them they were exceeding expectations.

“Alan Gold betrayed the trust of his clients—people who considered him a friend and adviser,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunil R. Harjani stated in prosecutors' sentencing memorandum. “It is important that the investment adviser community know that a term of imprisonment awaits them if they lie and steal from their clients.”

PHOTO: (Image via Shutterstock)

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