Feds charge New York adviser with embezzlement

Adam Belardino, CEO of Maddox Group, a financial advisory firm with offices in New York City and other locations, was charged last week with wire fraud in connection with his embezzlement of more than $313,000 from a client, a 64-year-old resident of New Rochelle, New York. 

According to a statement last Wednesday from the Justice Department, Belardino, 37, was charged in federal court in White Plains, New York, with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. barred Belardino last September after he failed to cooperate with Finra's investigation of his March 2019 firing by MML Investors Services, according to his BrokerCheck report. MML terminated or fired Belardino at that time "in connection with investigation of a customer complaint," according to BrokerCheck.

Belardino didn't return a call Monday morning to comment.

Belardino had managed the victim’s investments before he founded Maddox in July 2019, according to the statement from the Justice Department. That August, he convinced the victim to liquidate some of her portfolio and transfer the liquidated funds to Maddox for investment. 

The client transferred more than $313,000 to Maddox in eight separate transactions between August 2019 and October 2020. He didn't invest the money as he had promised, but used it to pay the operating expenses of Maddox, including payroll and office rent; pay down prior debt; pay credit card charges, which consisted primarily of personal items; and pay for personal travel, according to the DOJ statement.

The client asked for the money to be transferred to another account last September, but she never received any money.