Investment Advisor James Couture was recently charged with fraud in connection with allegations he misappropriated around $2.8 million in investor funds.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice:
“[F]rom approximately 2009 to 2020, Couture misappropriated approximately $2.8 million from his clients by transferring funds out of his clients’ accounts for investment in fictitious funds and using the money for other purposes, including to purchase a client list from another investment advisor. Couture also allegedly used client money to pay fake investment returns to other clients he had defrauded. For example, in or about June 2016, Couture allegedly liquidated one client’s variable annuities to fund withdrawals by another client. It is also alleged that in December 2019 and January 2020, Couture sold one client’s mutual funds and raided a 401(k) plan he managed to fund withdrawals by another client, whose assets Couture purported were held in a mutual fund account, when in fact neither the funds nor the account actually existed.”
James Couture was charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Fishman Haygood’s Investment Fraud Division has experience bringing claims on behalf of investors who were duped in fraudulent schemes. Please contact us to discuss your possible claim.
