Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MATTHEW O. CLASON, 40, of Cheshire, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for stealing more than $600,000 from an investment client.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Clason was an investment advisor and a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation, and then LPL Financial LLC. Beginning in approximately 2015, Clason provided investment services to a 73-year-old Connecticut resident (“the victim”).
The victim had at least five investments accounts with Clason and, in January 2018, Clason and the victim opened a joint bank account. From 2018 to August 2020, Clason transferred more than $668,000 from the victim’s investment accounts into the joint bank account and, without the victim’s knowledge or authorization, withdrew more than $621,000 in cash from the bank account for his personal use. Clason also transferred $5,000 directly from the joint bank account to his personal bank account, and made two transfers from the joint bank account to pay his personal credit card.
Judge Shea ordered Clason to pay $639,580 in restitution
On May 12, 2021, Clason pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Clason, who is released on bond, is required to report to prison on February 28, 2022.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather L. Cherry.
