A former financial advisor from Cape Coral was sentenced to five years in federal prison for wire fraud and bank fraud Wednesday.
According to court documents, David Aaron Rockwell, 45, managed investment and retirement accounts for his clients. Beginning in October 2017, Rockwell began to defraud clients and misappropriate their funds for his own purposes. He also defrauded a federally insured bank when he applied for two lines of credit, totaling $700,000, in the names of his clients, without their knowledge or permission. Rockwell forged the clients’ signatures on the loan applications and pledged their assets as collateral for the loans, all without their knowledge or authorization. Rockwell used the funds that he had obtained from the loans for his own use and benefit.
Rockwell persuaded another client to invest in low-income housing in Florida. However, once the client transferred around $400,000 to fund the investment, Rockwell used the money to pay his personal credit cards and to purchase a home.
Rockwell pleaded guilty on Jan. 14. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $1,018,000, the proceeds of his wire and bank fraud.
This article originally appeared on Wink.
