A Chicago financial advisor has found herself on the wrong side of the law after federal charges claim she finagled nearly $1.5 million from clients. According to a federal criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, 58-year-old Helen Grace Caldwell is facing wire fraud charges for her alleged movie investment scheme.
Caldwell, who was associated with a prominent bank as a senior financial advisor, supposedly had set up Canal Productions LLC as a front for producing movies from 2014 to 2023, as per the charges. She's accused of duping bank clients, some of whom were elderly, convincing them to pull their money from other investments to back her faux film projects, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois reported.
The ruse led three clients to lose about $1,480,500, the federal information stated. Caldwell's arraignment date is pending, and the case has garnered attention from Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., who announced the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey B. Rubenstein is representing the government in this matter. While the severity of wire fraud could land Caldwell up to two decades behind bars, it's important to note that information is not evidence of guilt. Caldwell, like any U.S. defendant, is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law. If convicted, her sentence will be determined by the court, referencing federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
