By Matthias Rieker
A former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. investment adviser in New
York has been accused by federal authorities of stealing at least
$20 million from clients and using the money for his own online
trading and to pay his mortgage.
The adviser, Michael Oppenheim, was charged with wire fraud,
embezzlement, and securities fraud, according to a Federal Bureau
of Investigation complaint filed with the U.S. District Court of
the Southern District of New York. He was arrested Thursday
morning, according to his lawyer.
He was fired on March 18 by his employer, according to the
complaint, which it identified only as a New York bank. Public
records show Mr. Oppenheim worked for J.P. Morgan, which confirmed
he was the person charged and that he no longer works there.
He stole amounts ranging from about $300,000 to almost $2
million from seven clients on at least 24 occasions between March
2011 and March 2015, the complaint alleged. In some instances, he
told clients he would invest their money in bonds, and then faked
account statements showing the bond yields, it said. In other
cases, he simply moved money out of clients' accounts without their
knowledge, the FBI said.
He used the clients' money for his own trading in online
accounts he held outside the bank and to pay his mortgage and other
bills, according to the complaint.
Mr. Oppenheim, 48 years old, started his career as financial
adviser in 1998 at Merrill Lynch and joined Chase Investment
Services in 2002, according to public documents. He managed about
$90 million for about 500 clients, according to the complaint.
J.P. Morgan discovered the fraud and alerted the FBI, a bank
spokesman said.
"We are sorry and angry this happened," he said. "We always
stand by our customers and will ensure no customer who had their
money stolen will lose any funds related to this."
Mr. Oppenheim couldn't be reached for comment. His lawyer,
Robert Gamburg, reached on his way to the courthouse, offered no
comment about the allegations.
Write to Matthias Rieker at matthias.rieker@wsj.com
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