It is being reported that Jeffrey A. Wicks, a financial advisor in Somerset County, has been ordered to spend 90 days in jail for a Ponzi scheme to bilk more than $750,000 from two couples.

Wicks allegedly took a total of $804,365.99 from two couples, taking advantage of his trusted role as the two couples’ financial advisor.  According to the reports, Wicks was a registered representative with MetLife Financial Services at the time of the fraud.

Rather than place the couples’ funds in proper investments, Wicks apparently put some of the couples’ money in his own account. He then purportedly bought items including three campers, a motor home, 10 cars and trucks, a Harley Davidson motorcycle and three Kubota backhoe tractors.

Wicks pleaded guilty Dec. 15 in both cases to a total of nine counts of theft to make required disposition of funds, third-degree felonies. He pleaded guilty to stealing $355,246.82 from the Sporys during an eight-year period while acting as their financial adviser and taking $449,119.17 from the Bakers in a second case.

If you were also a victim of Wicks’ actions, you may be able to recover your losses through FINRA arbitration.

Even if a financial advisor is conducting business without the knowledge of his brokerage firm, the firm may still be liable for negligent supervision of their broker representative and may be responsible for investment losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.

If you have suffered losses due to your investing with Wicks and would like to speak to a securities attorney about your potential to recover those investment losses, please call The White Law Group’s Chicago office at 312-238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.