(union recorder) - A 52-year-old financial advisor who earlier this year was arrested and charged with multiple counts of theft by taking and insurance fraud has been released from jail on bond, The Union-Recorder has learned.
The suspect is accused of duping several clients, including two elderly persons, out of more than $1.3 million, authorities say.
Dean Harrison Grant, who now lives in the Fulton County city of Roswell, but who formerly lived in Milledgeville, was released last Friday from the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center on $750,000 bond, according to jail records.
The bail amount was negotiated between Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Stephen A. Bradley and Grant’s defense attorney, Carl Cansino, whose law firm is in Milledgeville. It later was approved by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Brenda H. Trammell.
The bond negotiations between attorneys involved Grant agreeing to surrender his passport, as well as any guns in his possession.
“Judge (Amanda S.) Petty had granted us some time to see if there was anything else that the investigation needed to reveal,” Bradley told the newspaper in a Thursday afternoon telephone interview. “The investigators, in this case, have worked diligently and it has come to an apparent end.”
Bradley said he believed the bond amount was appropriate in light of the totality of the investigation.
“I think it was consistent with our position all along and that is we need to finish our investigation and we’ll come to a point where no one could interfere with it, and we’ve come to that point,” Bradley said. “We appreciate [Judge Amanda S. Petty’s] indulgence to give us an additional 30 days to get there.
“We’re looking forward to presenting this case to a grand jury in the upcoming months,” Bradley said, noting it was possible the case could be presented before a Baldwin County grand jury in May. “We expect it will be in May.”
Bradley pointed out that it all depends on whether or not he has all the documents in hand by then.
Grant has been the focus of a criminal investigation since November 2017 by Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Detective Capt. Brad King, who heads the criminal investigations division. The probe began after King was contacted by a local estate attorney who was doing some legal work for a widowed woman.
The investigation later involved Agent Jason Jones, who works with the Georgia Insurance Commissioner’s Office in Atlanta.
The two agencies are working the case jointly.
Grant, founder and owner of GDG Strategic Advisors, located at 136 W. McIntosh St. - Suite A, in Milledgeville, was originally charged with three counts of theft by taking by fiduciary, three counts of insurance fraud, two counts of trafficking a disabled adult or elder person or resident, and one count of forgery in the first degree, according to authorities.
While jailed, authorities filed 14 more felony charges against Grant. Those charges included seven counts each of theft by taking by fiduciary, and insurance fraud.
