Federal prosecutors indicted former Fidelity Brokerage Services broker Eric James Stone for a $2 million fraud scheme, charging Stone with 10 counts of wire and mail fraud, plus five counts of money laundering.
According to the US District Court filing, Stone while working at Fidelity Investments solicited personal loans from a Fidelity client, emailing a promissory note to his customer to begin the proceedings. After his customer wired the money, Stone allegedly failed to pay back the loan, leading his customer to follow up with Stone, who assured his customer that he would repay the loan; however, the indictment states he failed to do so.
Prosecutors allege that instead of paying back the loan, Stone falsely represented to his Fidelity victim/client that their initial payments through PayPal had triggered an investigation by PayPal. Stone purportedly used fake email accounts to falsely represent himself as a PayPal employee, state investigators, and attorneys, all while soliciting additional payments from his victim, persuading the victim to open multiple financial accounts and cryptocurrency wallets.
Although Stone initially solicited just $30,000 from this customer while employed by Fidelity Brokerage Services, the court filing indicates he falsely induced his victim to perform 613 subsequent transactions totaling more than $2 million. The findings state Stone used these funds for personal benefit, including gambling, travel, and paying off personal debts.
In a table summarizing Stone's wire communications, prosecutors identified wire fraud transactions through Zelle, PayPal, and a Bitcoin wallet address. Stone also allegedly engaged in money laundering for funds in Stone and another individual's Coinbase accounts deposited to Stone-controlled bank accounts at multiple institutions, including NBKC Bank, Cross River Bank, and Regions Bank.
Fidelity Brokerage Services terminated Stone's employment for soliciting and obtaining personal loans from his Fidelity clients in violation of firm policy and industry rules. FINRA barred Stone from the securities industry in 2023.
A customer dispute alleging Stone failed to pay back a loan has already resulted in a $38,400 settlement, while another customer dispute filed in 2024 seeking $2.7 million in damages remains pending.
If you invested with former Fidelity Brokerage Services representative Eric James Stone or with any broker or investment adviser who improperly solicited unapproved loans or engaged in a fraudulent scheme resulting in financial losses or other damages, please call an experienced FINRA arbitration attorney at The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.