A former financial advisor who was recently sanctioned for mishandling client funds at an Elmsford firm has been indicted for embezzling from a former client he persuaded to move funds to his new business.
Adam Belardino, 37, was arrested April 27 and charged with wire fraud in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Belardino did not respond to messages asking for his side of the story. He pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy and was released from custody on a $100,000 bond.
He was fired in 2019 at Barnum Financial Group, Elmsford, after a customer complained that he traded excessively, misrepresented the value of investments and failed to close out the portfolio and distribute the funds, according to a report by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The dispute was settled for $1,537,066.
Belardino formed the Maddox Group in 2019, according to a state corporation record.
He allegedly persuaded a New Rochelle woman to liquidate part of her portfolio at Barnum and transfer the funds to Maddox to be invested. From August 2019 to October 2020, according to the indictment, she moved more than $313,000 to Maddox.
But instead of investing the funds, the indictment states, Belardino used the money to pay for Maddox’s payroll and office rent, prior debt, personal travel and credit card charges for mostly personal items.
Last September, the client, then 64, directed Belardino to transfer her portfolio, purportedly valued at $730,000, to her account at a brokerage firm.
Instead, the feds claim, from last September to February he pretended to fulfill the client’s instruction.
He allegedly sent emails and text messages to the client and her family stating that the portfolio was being liquidated and wire transfers of funds were imminent.
He allegedly deposited Maddox checks into the client’s account that were returned because of insufficient funds.
He allegedly told the woman and her family that he was working with bank officials to resolve the problem and said his family would repay the client if he was unable to do so.
The New Rochelle client never received her money, according to the indictment.
Belardino was employed by Barnum from 2007 to March 2019. When he was fired he was a registered representative for an affiliate of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Last year, FINRA barred him from acting as a registered broker for refusing to testify about why he was fired.
FINRA records list six customer disputes involving Belardino from 2017 to 2018 for infractions such as forgery, unauthorized transactions, and misrepresentation of insurance products.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Belardino lives in New York City. According to a Westchester County property record, he sold his house in New Rochelle on Feb. 10.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the FBI for its investigation. Assistant prosecutor James McMahon is in charge of the case.
