After pleading guilty to wire fraud for stealing $2.25 million from elderly clients, former Mutual Securities broker Julie Anne Darrah of Santa Maria, California will spend at least 10 years in federal prison after sentencing in the US District Court for the Central District of California. One customer has already settled their six-figure dispute against Darrah, while two others remain pending.
In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a complaint alleging that broker Julie Darrah (CRD #2102014) schemed to misappropriate millions of dollars from client accounts, spending the money on herself and a company she co-owns called PC&J Joint Ventures.
The SEC wrote that the fraudulent scheme began when Darrah worked at Vivid Financial Management in 2016 and that Darrah primarily targeted elderly female advisory clients, oftentimes gaining discretionary authority over their brokerage accounts while sometimes serving as trustee over their trusts and, sometimes, as power-of-attorney. For instance, one of Darrah's customers allege she sold "virtually all" of the securities in their account, resulting in losses.
According to the allegations, Darrah misappropriated $2.25 million in funds from defrauded clients who hired Darrah as their investment adviser, making false claims on multiple industry forms regarding Vivid Financial Management's custody of client assets.
One customer who accused Darrah of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from their bank accounts reached a $275,000 settlement while two other customer disputes alleging damages due to misappropriation remain pending.
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services terminated Darrah's employment in 2023 after an internal review for fraud and wrongful/unauthorized taking of client property, according to Darrah's BrokerCheck file.
If you invested with Julie Anne Darrah or with any broker or investment adviser who stole money or misappropriated funds from your accounts, such as abuse of discretionary authority by selling many or all of your securities and other assets, resulting in losses, 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.