Chevy Chase Man Charged With Wire Fraud Related To A Scheme To Steal $750K From A Non-Profit Organization
GREENBELT, Md. (WJZ) -- A Chevy Chase man is facing federal charges for allegedly posing as an investment advisor to steal nearly $800,000 from a non-profit organization that provides services for wounded veterans.
Officials said 70-year Brian McQuade has been charged with wire fraud related to a scheme to steal $750,000 from a non-profit organization providing services to military veterans.
According to the indictment, from June 2018 until Aug. 2021, McQuade perpetrated a fraud scheme to obtain money from a non-profit organization. Officials said McQuade allegedly held himself out as an investment advisor to clients falsely telling clients that he would manage investment accounts on their behalf. He would instead misappropriate the funds provided by clients for his personal use.
The indictment also alleges that McQuade stated that he worked as an investment advisor through an entity called Columbia Financial Advisors, LLP. He has not been affiliated with the accounting firm since at least 2015. He also represented to the Foundation that he was a licensed, registered investment advisor. McQuade allegedly told the Foundation that he would place the Foundation's funds in a brokerage account that he would manage on behalf of the Foundation.
On McQuade's representations, the Foundation wired him $750,000 to invest on the Foundation's behalf. The indictment states that McQuade never opened a brokerage account on behalf of the Foundation and he misappropriated the Foundation's funds for his personal benefit, including transferring the funds to personal accounts and spending the money on restaurants, country club dues, luxury car payments, mortgages and other personal items.
To conceal his misappropriation of the Foundation's funds, McQuade allegedly continued to make misrepresentations to the Foundation about their investment—even providing a fabricated account statement.
If convicted, McQuade faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of two counts of wire fraud.
