U.S. Military monetary counselor pleads responsible to defrauding Gold Star households

Military Reserve monetary counselor accused of defrauding Gold Star households

A United States Military monetary counselor might face a long time in jail for duping the households of fallen troopers out of tens of millions of {dollars} and, in flip, producing tens of millions for himself by means of a life insurance coverage scheme, authorities mentioned.

The U.S. Division of Justice introduced on Tuesday that Caz Craffy, who’s also called Carz Craffey, pleaded responsible to 6 counts of wire fraud and different prison fees together with securities fraud, making false statements in a mortgage utility, committing acts affecting a private monetary curiosity and making false statements to a federal company.

The 41-year-old from Colts Neck, New Jersey is scheduled to be sentenced in district courtroom on Aug. 21. The utmost penalties for the costs embody 20 years in jail for every depend of wire fraud and securities fraud and 5 years in jail for the remaining fees, the Justice Division mentioned in a information launch. Craffy is also ordered to pay fines as excessive as $7 million — twice what his victims misplaced within the monetary rip-off — for all counts however one.

Craffy labored as a civilian worker within the Military between November 2017 and January 2023, serving as a monetary counselor with the Casualty Help Workplace, the place he was primarily accountable for educating the surviving beneficiaries of troopers killed in motion about their monetary choices, based on the Justice Division. These beneficiaries might have rights to as a lot as $500,000 from the navy. Along with this adviser function, Craffy was additionally a serious within the U.S. Military Reserves.

Authorities say that Craffy was prohibited as a navy monetary counselor from offering any recommendation primarily based on his private opinions to beneficiaries, who’re referred to as Gold Star households for the award given posthumously to service members who’ve died whereas on lively responsibility. However, as he operated a personal funding agency in secret, Craffy inspired the households to speculate their survivor advantages in accounts that he managed with out notifying the Military.

A lot of the households had been underneath the impression that Craffy, as their monetary adviser, was providing steerage that had already been authorised by the navy when in actuality he steered greater than $9.9 million of their advantages into accounts that he used to make trades with out their consent. Craffy earned fee from these trades, which weren’t at all times within the beneficiaries’ finest pursuits. Gold Star households misplaced over $3.7 million through the scheme, whereas Craffy obtained greater than $1.4 million in commissions taken out of their accounts. He admitted to those allegations as a part of the responsible plea, based on the Justice Division.

Craffy was indicted final July for defrauding 20 Gold Star navy households, CBS New York reported on the time, citing investigators working the case. Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC Division of Enforcement, mentioned in an announcement as soon as fees had been introduced that Craffy had “abused” his positions throughout the Military community “to control grieving relations into transferring their life insurance coverage and household survivor advantages … into brokerage accounts he managed,” based on CBS New York.