Michael Collins, the former chief marketing officer of the CFA Institute, is accused of embezzling millions of dollars from his former employers, including the institute itself. Collins was indicted Monday, with charges announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
The indictment alleges that Collins stole $5 million from a “financial education company” while serving as its chief marketing officer. He is accused of embezzling another $1 million from an education technology company, where he had previously served as chief marketing and revenue officer.
The indictment alleges that Collins founded two fictitious marketing consulting companies—Quattro Quadrati LLC and Regiondrivers LLC—and took advantage of his senior marketing roles to hire these companies as marketing vendors and consultants. Collins invoiced his employers for nonexistent work, and payments were made to the fraudulent companies.
According to the indictment, Collins made 144 fraudulent invoices to the financial education company, believed to be the CFA Institute, and five invoices to the education technology company, which is likely a division of textbook publisher Pearson. The indictment states he embezzled funds from employers he worked for between March 2016 and April 2024.
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According to Collins’ LinkedIn profile, he was chief marketing officer of the CFA Institute between 2016 and 2022. According to an April 2016 press release from the CFA Institute, Collins was named managing director of services delivery, in which he led the institute’s media and communications; multimedia production; and services delivery.
Collins later took on a senior marketing role at Pearson, starting in 2022 and ending in May 2024. He is currently the chief marketing officer at nCino Inc., a technology company that provides services for financial institutions, according to his LinkedIn page. According to an nCino spokesperson, Collins is no longer affiliated with the company.
According to the indictment, Collins left his role at the CFA Institute without the alleged theft being detected.
“We are aware of the indictment of former CFA Institute employee Michael Collins and have been assisting the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office since they notified us late last year that a broader criminal investigation had uncovered evidence of possible crimes against CFA Institute,” a spokesperson for the CFA Institute said in a statement. “The indictment alleges that Mr. Collins misappropriated approximately $6 million from two employers, including the CFA Institute during his employment here. We cannot comment on the details of the DA’s investigation or speculate beyond what has been disclosed by the DA’s Office.”
According to the indictment, Collins spent the stolen funds on luxury goods, travel (including more than 150 airline tickets) and a $150,000 engagement ring purchased using the bank account of one of his fraudulent companies.
“Michael Collins allegedly used his position as a marketing executive to embezzle nearly $6 million from two of his employers over the course of eight years,” said Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney, in a statement. “He then allegedly used the stolen money to fund his lavish lifestyle, spending it on executive club memberships, luxury brands, fine dining, and extensive travel.”
Collins is being charged with one count of grand larceny in the first degree, one count of grand larceny in the second degree and six counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Collins could not be immediately reached for comment, but his attorney, Seth Zuckerman, said Collins was not taken by surprise.
“Michael has known about these trumped-up allegations from his former employers for close to a year and has demonstrated that he is not a flight risk,” Zuckerman, a partner in ChaudhryLaw PLLC, said via email. “He looks forward to returning to court to fight these charges.”
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Tags: Alvin Bragg, CFA Institue, Manhattan DA, Michael Collins
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