Cape Cod Investment Adviser Sentenced For Fraud, Identity Theft

ORLEANS, MA – An investment adviser from Cape Cod was sentenced to prison this week after pleading guilty last year to defrauding her clients of more than $3 million. Kimberly Kitts, 51, of Orleans, misappropriated her clients' assets in order to pay her personal expenses starting in 2011, federal authorities said.

One scheme saw her direct client assets to a bank account for Marquis Consulting, which she controlled. In another scheme, she used used her position to divert her clients' funds to her own account and then used them for her own gain, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

This included cashing her clients' annuities, transferring funds out of their brokerage accounts and directing distributions from their Individual Retirement Accounts. In total, Kitts misappropriated about $3,085,939 from her clients, authorities said.

Kitts pleaded guilty in November to investment adviser fraud, four counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Previously: Cape Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Identity Theft