Former financial advisor Sung Moo “Sam” Cho, 44, pleaded guilty on June 15 to wire and investment fraud in Brooklyn federal court for stealing $3.5 million from a wealthy Franklin Lakes, N.J., resident to fund his lavish lifestyle, according to a report yesterday by the New York Post.
Citing court filings it reviewed, the Post reported that Cho, who most recently worked at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Services, could face up to 25 years in prison for the theft.
According to his BrokerCheck profile, Cho was barred last month by industry regulator FINRA; he did not give FINRA information and documents into its investigation of the theft.
FINRA’s investigation into Cho started when a customer complained to the regulator that the advisor had misappropriated approximately $3.5 million from the customer's brokerage accounts, according to his BrokerCheck profile.
FINRA was investigating whether Cho “misappropriated customer funds, forged customer signatures, and falsified firm documents while associated with two member firms,” according to BrokerCheck.
Cho was registered in Long Island, N.Y. with Ameriprise from January 2021 to October 2025, according to BrokerCheck, and worked as an independent financial advisor. He then moved to Citigroup and was “discharged” or fired in April; the firm claimed Cho took personal customer information from firm systems to create false statements that was provided to a client, according to BrokerCheck.
Cho could not be reached Wednesday to comment.
A Citigroup spokesperson wrote in an email: “In 2025, this individual was only employed for the last three months and he was subsequently terminated in early 2026.”
A spokesperson for Ameriprise wrote in an email to InvestmentNews that “Mr. Sung Moo Cho is a former independent associate financial advisor and was not an employee of Ameriprise. His alleged illegal misconduct was deliberately concealed from the firm.”
“Ameriprise has zero tolerance for illegal or unethical behavior and is cooperating with law enforcement,” the spokesperson added.
Cho “preyed on his unnamed victim between 2023 and 2025, spending the embezzled money on fancy vacations and expensive jewelry, as well as paying off student loans and credit card debt,” according the New York Post article, which cited court documents in federal court in Brooklyn, or the Eastern District of New York.
“Cho bypassed internal compliance at both firms by forging the client’s signature on authorization forms,” according to the article. “He triggered massive, unauthorized wire transfers out of the client’s account, court documents state.”
“To keep his own name off the paper trail, Cho wired the millions straight to a company bank account in Queens,” according to the article.
Cho was freed on bail after posting a $200,000 bond and surrendering his passport, according to the article.
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