Dusty Sternadel, a 43-year-old financial advisor working out of Wichita Falls, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Sternadel, who pleaded guilty in January, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O'Connor. According to plea papers, Sternadel, working at a large multi-national financial services firm, deceived clients into sending her money and checks, which she then deposited into her own accounts.
For instance, on September 18, 2019, Sternadel transferred nearly $27,000 from a client's brokerage account to their personal checking account. She falsely informed the client that the firm had mistakenly transferred someone else's money into their account and instructed them to write a check for that amount. The victim complied, and Sternadel deposited the funds into her business bank account for personal expenses.
Throughout the scheme, which spanned from 2019 to 2022, Sternadel swindled over $1.2 million from at least ten victims:
- Victim 1: $286,021.63 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 2: $18,122 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 3: $ 101,240.50 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 4: $21,064 ($9,334 of which was refunded by the firm)
- Victim 5: $43,099.21 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 6: $51,600 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 7: $204,442.82 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 8: $40,000
- Victim 9: $288,979.89 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
- Victim 10: $175,201.25 (refunded to the victim by the firm)
At sentencing, prosecutors said most of the victims were elderly, and some of them were even suffering from cognitive decline.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Division.
