Middleboro financial advisor pleads guilty to defrauding clients and identifies them

BOSTON – A Middleboro financial adviser pleaded guilty to “defrauding his vulnerable clients and stealing their retirement assets,” a written statement from US Attorney Rachel S. Rollins said the office.

Paul R. McGonigle, 67, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday, Feb. 3, to one count of investment adviser fraud, two counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. , after charging originally in June 2021.

McGonigal served as a financial advisor to the victims, “many of whom were elderly, one with dementia, and another with a traumatic brain injury,” the statement said.

In February 2015, McGonigle “made unauthorized withdrawals from the victims’ annuities” and succeeded in persuading the victims to “pay money to be invested on their behalf, which he then used for personal and business expenses,” the statement continued.

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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, McGonigle then posed as his clients during calls with their annuity companies and signed their names on forms requesting withdrawals.

The presiding judge, US District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton sentenced McGonigle on June 22. McGonigle was initially indicted in June 2021 and later indicted in February 2022 on a removal charge.

If convicted of the investment adviser fraud charge, McGonigle faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever is greater.

On the money laundering charge, McGonigle faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross profit or loss from the crime, whichever is greater.

For mail and wire fraud, McGonigle faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross profit or loss from the crime, whichever is greater. And, finally, if McGonigle is convicted of aggravated identity theft, he faces up to two years in prison, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever occurs first. greater

Staff writer Namu Sampath can be reached at [email protected], or you can follow him on Twitter @namusampath. Thank you, customers. You can this coverage. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.

This article originally appeared on Enterprise: Middleboro financial advisor: Paul R. McGonigle pleads guilty to fraud