Howell Financial Adviser Admits Stealing $3.1M From Clients

TRENTON, NJ — A financial adviser from Howell pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding his investment clients out of $3.1 million, forging an attorney's signature and preparing false tax returns for his clients, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Scott Newsholme, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in federal court to three counts: wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and preparing fraudulent tax returns, Carpenito's office said. Authorities said he stole millions from clients that he then used for personal expenses, including multiple vehicles, bedroom furniture, and his gambling debts at casinos.

His crimes, which took $3.1 million from his investment clients, resulted in net investment losses of more than $1.8 million, authorities said.

Newsholme initially was charged in September 2017, authorities said, and then released on bail, but when law enforcement discovered in October 2017 that he was still continuing his fraud scheme while he was out on bail, he was charged with additional crimes, including the aggravated identity theft, authorities said, and his bail was revoked and he was held in jail pending trial.

Newsholme had owned and operated had owned and operated at least three different financial advisory and tax return preparation businesses since 2002, including one in Matawan, began recommending in 2007 to clients that they invest their money with him, according to court documents, on the premise that he would use the money on their behalf to invest in various securities and other investments, including bond instruments issued by a private New Jersey country club, a bond investment in a video-game production company, and investments in the production of a movie.

Newsholme also told clients he would invest their money in more traditional securities, including mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, college education accounts, money market funds, and an escrow account for the purchase of a house. Newsholme directed his investment clients to write checks to him or one of his companies so that he could execute the investments on their behalf, according to court documents.

Instead of investing the money, Newsome cashed or deposited the checks and used the funds for personal expenses, including multiple vehicles, bedroom furniture, debits at casinos, bank transfers to Newsholme’s personal bank accounts, and ATM withdrawals, according to the court documents.

Newsholme concealed his scheme by diverting incoming investment funds to pay other clients who had requested to withdraw funds from their investment portfolios, and provided phony account statements, security instruments, and other documentation that falsely represented to the clients the status of their investments, according to the documents.

In October 2017, he gave a letter that he said had been prepared by an attorney, to one client from whom he'd stolen $62,000, saying the funds were being held in an escrow account established by the attorney, Carpenito's office said. Newsholme admitted on Wednesday that he fabricated the letter and forged the attorney’s signature to conceal his misappropriation of the funds, authorities said.

In addition to the wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, Newsholme also admitted preparing fraudulent tax returns on behalf of his clients that claimed inflated deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses, charitable donations, and medical expenses to which his clients were not entitled, authorities said.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Carpenito's office said. The false tax return charge charries up to three years and a $250,000 fine. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must run consecutive to the sentences on the other two counts. Sentencing is scheduled for July 19, 2018.

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