A former investment advisor accused of stealing millions from one of his clients has pleaded guilty in the case, Financial Advisor reports.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that 43-year-old Eijroghene Okuma of Lithia Springs, Ga. pleaded guilty to wire fraud after defrauding an elderly client out of nearly $10 million.
The charge covers the period between 2010 and May 2023, when Okuma was a financial and investment advisor with Edward Jones and had complete access to the brokerage accounts of the client (“Victim-1”).
After being appointed to administer the estate of Victim-1’s sister, prosecutors said he began embezzling from Victim-1 by falsely representing that the sister’s estate needed funds. The client then permitted Okuma to transfer $500,000 from one of their brokerage accounts to a bank account purportedly held for the estate, but Okuma ultimately transferred the money to a bank account in the name of his wife’s company without the client’s knowledge. Okuma subsequently stole approximately $400,000 by transferring funds he deceived Victim-1 into paying.
“After embezzling nearly $1 million from Victim-1, Okuma set up fraudulent accounts to steal millions more,’ said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “In early February 2023, Okuma opened an unauthorized Vanguard brokerage account in the name of a revocable trust, which Okuma was involved in creating in Victim-1’s name, as well as using Victim-1’s personal identifying information and a fraudulent email account that Okuma created. Victim-1 had no knowledge of the Vanguard account until Okuma’s scheme was uncovered more than two years later.”
On the same day that Okuma opened the fraudulent Vanguard account, he added himself as a custodian to a bank account in Victim-1’s name, which gave him full authority to withdraw funds without the client’s approval. Okuma began transferring funds from Victim-1’s brokerage accounts to the fraudulent Vanguard account and by the end of February 2023, he had transferred approximately $9 million of the man’s funds to the Vanguard account without his knowledge. Between August 2023 and March 2025, Okuma embezzled approximately $9 million of the victim’s funds from the Vanguard account by writing checks to bank accounts controlled by him or his wife and electronic transfers.
Okuma used the stolen money to build a $5.2 million residence in Vinings, Georgia, join a beach club and purchase a fractional share of a beach house for approximately $1.4 million, and donate approximately $340,000 to his church, authorities said.
“This was the ultimate act of financial betrayal,” said Hertzberg. “Instead of abiding by his fiduciary obligations, Okuma exploited an elderly man’s trust and stole millions.
“Eijroghene Okuma abused a position of trust to carry out a calculated scheme that stole millions from an elderly victim,” said Peter Ellis, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office. “The FBI is committed to protecting older Americans from financial exploitation.”
Sentencing is scheduled for June 23.
In January, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a settled action against Okuma relating to the scheme. A final judgment was entered against Okuma under which he agreed to pay more than $13 million, including more than $1 million in prejudgment interest and a $3 million civil penalty.
FINRA barred Okuma in December after he failed to cooperate with its investigation into allegations he had misappropriated client funds.
Hyman Cotter routinely represents investors harmed when financial professionals and their firms engaged in misconduct that caused their clients investment losses. Our team includes lawyers who have worked for large financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services, and regulatory bodies such as the SEC. If you think your financial professional or firm engaged in misconduct that caused you investment losses, contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form for a no-cost evaluation of your matter.
