Florida man accused of posing as financial advisor, defrauding millions of dollars from investors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida man was indicted for allegedly defrauding investors after he portrayed himself as a legitimate financial advisor to those wishing to sell their advisory businesses, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
Jared Dean Eakes, 33, of Jacksonville, is charged with five counts of wire fraud and three counts of bank fraud and may have to forfeit over $7 million.
Eakes allegedly contacted several investment advisors looking to sell their advisory businesses. He negotiated to take over management of the advisors' client assets between approximately January 2019 and February 2020, the DOJ said.
He then converted over $2 million of the victims' investor funds to his benefit by withdrawing the funds in cash, using the funds to pay personal expenses, transferring investor funds to a Las Vegas-based casino company, and making unauthorized option trades in his personal brokerage account.
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In addition, between March 2020 and November 2021, Eakes fraudulently secured over $4 million in emergency funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. He then withdrew the funds in cash and used the money to take option trades, according to the DOJ.
Eakes faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count and up to 30 years' imprisonment for each bank fraud count.