SPRINGS ADVISER DIVERTED $2.8M IN FUNDS, SEC ALLEGES

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order freezing the personal assets of Colorado Springs financial adviser Sonya D. Camarco on allegations she siphoned off $2.8 million from client accounts.

“We view this as a brazen and egregious fraud by an investment adviser,” said Kurt Gottschall, associate regional director for enforcement with the SEC’s Denver office. The freeze, Gottschall said, seeks to block Camarco from accessing money that rightfully belongs to her clients.

Starting in 2004, Camarco, a registered representative with LPL Financial who operated as Camarco Investments, cashed out client investments without their consent and forged their signatures on checks made out to C Investments, an entity she controlled, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Colorado.

The forged checks were deposited into a bank account that Camarco controlled and the money was used to make personal mortgage payments, pay off credit cards and to fund the purchase of a home held in a trust Camarco created, the complaint alleges.

When confronted by clients, Camarco said C Investments was an outside investment she made on their behalf, the SEC alleges. Camarco allegedly told LPL Financial C Investments was an outside investment held by one of her clients.

LPL Financial uncovered a series of suspicious transfers and terminated its relationship with Camarco on Aug. 9. Efforts to reach Camarco were unsuccessful.