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FILE: $100 bills. (NEXSTAR)
NEW BERN, NC (WNCN) — A Raleigh financial adviser was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison for fraud and identity theft after stealing more than $1.3 million from an elderly woman he was advising , said the Department of Justice.
Furman Alexander Ford, 52, was convicted in March 2021 of 11 counts of mail fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. According to the DOJ, he was advising a 72-year-old woman who had inherited real estate valued at $1.3 million.
Ford, who worked for New York Life, was involved in selling the property and establishing a charitable annuity trust. Part of his responsibility as the victim’s financial agent included drafting and submitting withdrawal letters from the client’s annuity account to pay for certain expenses, according to a news release.
Officers identified 20 separate fraudulent takedown letters that Ford wrote and submitted to NYL headquarters on behalf of the victim. All were posted by him from his office in Raleigh. The funds requested ranged from $5,000 to $45,000 and totaled more than $376,000, the DOJ said.
The funds were then electronically transferred by NYL to Ford’s staff checking account. The FBI traced the funds to the purchase of items including a BMW, Rolex watches, firearms, child support and a Bahamas cruise.
On Dec. 29, 2014, Ford withdrew $1 million from the account, the statement said.
In total, Ford stole more than $1.3 million, the DOJ said. He was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison. The DOJ said in March 2021 that the maximum sentence he could face was 37 years behind bars.