Former broker gets 18 months in jail for wire fraud

A former Mount Vernon investment adviser and broker was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in jail and three years of probation, along with restitution payments, for defrauding clients out of more than $360,000.

Greg Ray, a former broker with Edward Jones and Co., was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri for misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars from various client accounts that he controlled as a broker, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

From January 2006 through December 2009, Ray was able to transfer money out of customer accounts without their knowledge or consent. He had set up various bank accounts to receive the unauthorized transfers.

According to the release, he also created false authorization letters allowing him to transfer the money, which totaled $368,657 in net funds, to various bank accounts under his control. The money was put to personal use, according to the release, including in part to support a significant gambling addiction.

Ray will serve 18 months in prison plus three years of supervised release in addition to paying $368,057 in restitution to Edward Jones.[[In-content Ad]]