San Antonio Area Stockbroker Sentenced for Stealing More Than $1 Million from His Clients
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 02, 2009 |
John E. Murphy, Acting U.S. Attorney, announced that in San Antonio this morning, 50-year-old Bruce E. Hammonds, of San Antonio and Boerne, Texas, was sentenced to 57 months in prison on federal securities fraud charges.
United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez also ordered that Hammonds pay $1,111,323 in restitution to his victims and be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term. Judge Rodriguez also ordered that Hammonds forfeit $220,991 held in an account with Merrill Lynch and $11,459 held in an account with Wachovia Bank.
On February 18, 2009, Hammonds pleaded guilty to two counts of securities fraud. By pleading guilty, Hammonds admitted that as early as August 2006, and continuing until on or about October 15, 2008, he defrauded investors through a scheme in which he used investor funds for personal benefit rather than investing them as he had been retained to do by his clients.
This investigation was conducted by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas State Securities Board. It was prosecuted for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Bill Harris, Assistant United States Attorney Mary Nelda Valadez and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rhonda Rogers.