Arapahoe County man charged with stealing $532K from mutual-fund investors
Provided by the office of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
Clinton Dee Fraley
- Mark Harden[1]
- News Director- Denver Business Journal
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Facebook[3] | Twitter[4] | Broadway & 17th blog[5]
An Arapahoe County man who formerly worked for investment-services firms has been charged with 46 felony counts in connection with the alleged theft of $532,000 from four Colorado mutual-fund investors, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers[6] announced Friday.
The charges against Clinton Dee Fraley[7], 26, include securities fraud, theft, identity theft and forgery, Suthers’ office said.
Fraley was arrested in connection with the charges, filed in Arapahoe County Court, and was being held on $500,000 bond.
“Fraley stole money one client inherited from her deceased grandparents and entrusted him to invest,” Suthers said in a statement. “That began his pattern of using people’s savings for his own personal use and entertainment.”
According to an arrest-warrant affidavit [8]filed with the court in the case, Fraley formerly worked for Northwestern Mutual Investment Services and then Mass Mutual Investors Services, where he sold financial products and had access to investor mutual fund accounts with American Funds.
Fraley was terminated by Mass Mutual in September 2011. However, due to an error by Mass Mutual, “he was not removed as the account representative on investor accounts,” the affidavit alleges. “This error meant that Fraley was still able to ... contact American Funds to redeem funds from investor accounts even though his access should have been denied.”
The affidavit alleges that Fraley was “able to lead investors to believe that he was still in the financial services industry” and forged checks to gain access to the investors’s funds.
The filing alleges that Fraley had been good friends of two of his victims, had served as best man at their wedding, and watched their home for them when they were on vacation.
Mark Harden is news director for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Broadway & 17th" blog. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Phone: 303-803-9227.
References
- ^ Mark Harden (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Broadway & 17th blog (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ John Suthers (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Clinton Dee Fraley (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ an arrest-warrant affidavit (assets.bizjournals.com)