Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Scottrade Clients

St. Louis, MO: A Florida man has pleaded guilty to fraud charges involving his impersonation of Scottrade clients, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today.

Christopher Maury admitted to fraudulently obtaining account information for a number of Scottrade clients. After obtaining identification information of a Scottrade client, Maury would call Scottrade and impersonate the client, ultimately convincing representatives of the brokerage house to liquidate client holdings and direct the proceeds to a bank account he controlled in Florida.

Maury, 35, most recently of West Palm Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud. The guilty plea was the culmination of an investigation that began in 2005. As part of his plea agreement, Maury made full restitution in the amount of $32,020 to Scottrade. Scottrade, a St. Louis County based brokerage house, had already made its clients whole from Maury’s fraud. In addition to restitution, Maury faces a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. Maury appeared before United States District Judge Jean C. Hamilton.

The St. Louis FBI cyber-squad, who investigated the case, also discovered that Maury had relocated to New Zealand and arrested Maury in May when he returned to the United States from New Zealand.

“This case is a fine example of the sophisticated, dogged approach the FBI takes to investigating economic crimes,” remarked Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap. “It is satisfying to see a fraudster such as this tracked down and brought to justice.”