WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – A disgraced financial advisor has pled guilty to misusing her clients’ funds. This advisor, Dusty Sternadel, admitted to wiring more than $1 million to herself for personal use.
We spoke to a Founder of Financial Money Planning who said this is not the first case like this that he’s seen in his career.
Gary Silverman said these schemes can never last, because once the money is spent all you’re doing is “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“It affects all of us in our business, the honest person in the business. And 99% of people in the business are honest. The honest person in the business, this is a horror story for them,” Silverman said.
Sternadel was fired from Ameriprise Financial and was disbarred as a broker in July 2022 following allegations that she stole money from her clients.
According to court documents, the 43-year-old pleaded guilty to wiring $1.2 million dollars from 10 former clients for her own personal use.
“It is our responsibility to be looking for crimes that could be happening directly under our noses. The managers in the company have to review anything that’s happening with people below them and then the managers have to review each other as far as that goes to make sure that kind of stuff is not occurring.” Silverman explained.
Silverman says if you believe your funds are being improperly used, it’s important to ask questions.
“If you question your financial advisor about something and they get all super defensive about it, dig deeper. Don’t back off, go harder,” He said.
Sternadel’s sentencing hearing is set for April 26 in Fort Worth. If you feel you have fallen victim to a financial advisory scheme, you can report them to the Texas State Security Board.
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