A former Michigan financial consultant has shamelessly admitted to purloining a hefty sum of $260,000 from his trusting clients, Attorney General Dana Nessel reported. Jaime Westenbarger, the culprit behind this charade, had clients believe their funds were getting invested. Instead, he coolly siphoned them into his stash.
Westenbarger was exposed for fabricating a persona of reliability as an investment advisor and registered agent for Forest Hills Financial Inc., only to gruesomely abuse that trust. FOX 2 Detroit relayed that he employed his computer skills to wrongly transfer client money online into his pockets. The deceit ran deep, as he was even prepared to exploit a client with dementia for $60,000. His maneuvers finally collided with justice as he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to embezzlement and conducting a criminal enterprise.
By executing such a well-orchestrated crime, Westenbarger has left many reeling from the shock that someone tasked to safeguard their financial health had rather chosen the path of a rogue. Michigan residents seeking a competent financial advisor should not have to fear they are handing their hard-earned income to an outright criminal, Attorney General Nessel said in a statement captured by FOX 17 Online.
Disturbing details from WOODTV unveiled his spree of gambling debts, his misuse of the funds to splurge on various luxuries, including spoiling his girlfriend, and the ensuing fallout, including his firing from the brokerage firm and the stripping of his broker's license.
He has been instructed to pay back the $60,000 still owed within five months – a mandate that, if honored, will see him serve up to 30 months for his financial sins, with other charges possibly being laid to rest. A sentencing hearing is keenly awaited to be held on June 27.
