A former Arizona broker was indicted for what prosecutors said was an alleged fraud scheme involving forged financial statements and stolen retirement funds, Financial Advisor reports.
A grand jury returned the indictment against Daniel Droeg of Mesa, charging him with fraudulent schemes and artifices, a Class 2 felony; theft of $100,000 or more, a Class 2 felony; and two counts of forgery, both Class 4 felonies.
Droeg was a financial adviser who had been registered in Arizona as a salesman since 1987 and licensed as an advisor since 2007,
The charges involve the theft of assets from a client, a matter for which Droeg had previously been sanctioned by regulators. In January 2025, the Arizona Corporation Commission ordered him to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution and a $150,000 administrative penalty after finding he defrauded a client of $878,000. His advisor license was also revoked.
The commission detailed the allegations, stating “Mr. Droeg lied to his employer about being a client’s nephew so he could be named trustee of this client’s charitable remainder trust.. This misrepresentation gave Mr. Droeg account access in order to surrender an annuity and liquidate other investments.”
Droeg was alleged to have created fake account statements to show that the client’s money was invested and growing, when he had actually moved the funds into his personal account.
Droeg had previously been discharged from the Mesa office of United Planners’ Financial Services of America in 2021.
Under the allegations note on BrokerCheck, the firm wrote: “United Planners prohibits financial professionals from acting in the capacity as a trustee for clients who are not immediate family members … Additionally, United Planners prohibits financial professionals from creating and distributing fictitious statements to clients.”
In March 2022, Droeg accepted the findings of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which barred him after investigating the matter.
“In December 2007, Droeg was named trustee for a charitable remainder trust created by its two beneficiaries, a senior, married couple with no familial relationship to Droeg,” FINRA said in its settlement letter. The authority stated that Droeg had invested in a variable annuity. “In 2015, Droeg used his authority as trustee to surrender that annuity and, from 2015 to 2021, converted assets from the trust by transferring over $878,000 from the trust’s bank account to his own personal and business bank accounts”, FINRA said. “Droeg distributed a portion of that money to the trust’s beneficiaries and withdrew the remainder for personal use.”
In July 2023, a panel of FINRA arbitrators found that Droeg owed United Planners roughly $100,000 for breach of promissory notes. Two months later, FINRA reaffirmed its bar of Droeg, stating that he had failed to comply with the arbitration award.
In March 2025, CFP Board issued a permanent bar from Droeg’s certification on the grounds that he failed to cooperate with the Board’s own investigation into the matter.
Droeg could not be contacted by press time, Financial Advisor said in its report.
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