SEC Charges Eldrick Woodley with Embezzlement of Client Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 22, 1015, filed fraud charges against Eldrick Woodley, a Houston-based investment advisor, for the embezzlement of more than $147,000 in client capital.

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, Woodley, doing business as the advisory firm Woodley & Co. Wealth Strategies, undertook a fraudulent scheme to steal money from his advisory clients. The SEC claims that to perpetrate his scheme, Woodley submitted a series of fraudulent fee invoices to the custodian of his clients’ accounts to collect funds from various clients, allegedly as indemnity for services that Woodley implemented and investments he made on his clients’ behalf. According to the SEC’s complaint, the fee invoices, however, were for services Woodley never performed and investments Woodley never made on behalf of the clients. Woodley directed all of these transactions and fraudulently collected over $147,000 from his clients’ accounts.

The SEC claims that through his embezzlement, Woodley violated Sections 206(1) and (2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, seeks to permanently enjoin Woodley from violating the federal securities laws, and seeks an order requiring Woodley to pay disgorgement of his ill-gotten gains, plus prejudgment interest and penalties.

For further information about this securities law blog post, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202 N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956, by email at [email protected] or visit  www.securitieslawyer101.com.   This securities law blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal and compliance advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Hamilton & Associates | Securities Lawyers
Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney
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Boca Raton, Florida 33432
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