A federal judge sentenced a former Wealth Enhancement advisor to more than 10 years in prison for stealing about $2.25 million from her elderly clients (including several receiving end-of-life care).
Julie Anne Darrah pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in California federal court last March.
According to FINRA records, Darrah joined the industry as a rep in 2001 at National Planning Corporation before co-founding Vivid Financial Management in 2015. As part of her scheme, she primarily targeted elderly clients, including one living in a memory care facility. According to the Justice Department, Darrah would access her clients’ assets, liquidate their security holdings and transfer them to accounts she controlled.
Between 2016 and 2023, Darrah spent the clients’ money on personal expenses, luxury cars and two restaurants she partly owned (at a loss).
Darrah would often convince victims to sign documents making her a trustee or giving her power of attorney over their brokerage accounts by saying she would take care of them in their older years, “like a daughter.” She’d then use that trust to convince them to grant her access to steal their money.
Some victims were left without the funds to pay for end-of-life care. According to the SEC, the client in a memory care facility received $1,631 in monthly Social Security payments as her sole income source after being defrauded (with $7,845 in monthly expenses to pay for the facility).
According to the SEC, Darrah’s hold on the victim was so strong that the facility allegedly required her approval for patient visits, even from family members.
In January 2022, Darrah sold Vivid’s $634 million advisory business to a subsidiary of Wealth Enhancement (then known as Wealth Enhancement Group), retaining many of her victims as clients.
However, according to the DOJ, Darrah convinced Wealth Enhancement to acquire Vivid Financial based on “false and misleading statements,” including not telling them about the fraud.
According to SEC records, Wealth Enhancement placed Darrah on administrative leave in July 2023 and fired her several months later after an internal fraud review.
A Wealth Enhancement spokesperson said that while the firm couldn’t comment on the case, it had moved to fire Darrah after learning of her misconduct.
“We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in their review of this matter,” the spokesperson said. “Wealth Enhancement holds our entire team to the highest professional and ethical standards and we do not tolerate anything less.”
Darrah was sentenced to 121 months, with a hearing on restitution to be scheduled later. The SEC filed a civil complaint in October 2023, and last December, a U.S. District Judge ordered Darah to pay over $2.4 million, including interest.
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