Former licensed securities broker Olof Olsson was charged yesterday for allegedly stealing $3.8 million from his church, the Manhattan-based Swedish Church of New York – also known as the Swedish Seamen’s Church, according to a statement from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.
Olsson, 45 and of Manhattan, served as a member of the church’s board of directors and as a financial advisor to the church, according to the indictment. He is being accused of grand larceny in the first degree. The alleged theft occurred over six years and he faces 24 charges in the indictment.
“As a licensed securities broker and church board member, Olsson was responsible for safeguarding the church’s donations and bequests,” according to the New York Attorney General’s statement.
An investigation “found that Olsson abused his position and funneled the Church’s money into bank accounts he controlled, and then spent the funds on risky investments and personal expenses,” according to the statement.
Olson was registered with Aegis Capital Corp. from 2011 to 2021, according to his BrokerCheck profile, which shows no history of Olsson being investigated by regulators or being part of lawsuits from clients. His alleged crime overlaps with his time at the firm; according to the indictment, Olsson stole the money from the church from July 2018 to the end of 2024.
Olsson could not be reached to comment. The CEO of Aegis Capital, Robert Eide, did not return a call on Friday to comment.
One industry attorney noted that New York’s charges sounded like affinity fraud, a type of crime that occurs when a member of one religious or ethnic group gains access to others with similar backgrounds and hurts them financially.
“What’s alleged is a jambalaya of fraud and textbook examples of affinity fraud, as well as a failure to supervise by the brokerage firm,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a plaintiff’s attorney.
“If what’s alleged is true, the advisor’s career is obviously over and he will likely be spending time in jail,” Stoltmann said. “On top of that, FINRA may have a target on the firm for ignoring any likely brazen red flags.”
“Olsson used his role as a financial advisor to steal millions of dollars, including by making unlawful transfers from church accounts to a bank account he opened in the name of the church, but that he alone controlled,” according to the statement.
“Olsson was able to accomplish this theft without the church board’s knowledge by creating forged financial statements that concealed and omitted his unlawful withdrawals, leaving the church to believe its investments remained intact and secure,” according to the statement.
He allegedly used the stolen church funds for personal expenses, including an investment in a risky and failed venture, according to the Attorney General’s statement, and also allegedly falsified the church’s financial records to overstate the value of its investments in the yearly ledgers and conceal his theft.
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