Former Investment Advisor Convicted in Elderly Exploitation Scheme

Former financial advisor Mathew Muratori, of Clearwater, was convicted on criminal charges of elderly exploitation, grand theft, identity theft, and scheme to defraud related to the embezzlement of an elderly client’s money.

Muratori embezzled more than $152,000 of an elderly client’s funds. The victim, who has diminished capacity, was convinced to transfer his investment accounts to Muratori’s firm, Pruco Investments. A review of financial records revealed that a fraudulent email account was created by Muratori and used to establish Cash App and Venmo accounts in the victim’s name without his knowledge or consent. Muratori also obtained a debit card, which was used to facilitate transfers from the fraudulent accounts to his own P2P accounts and personal checking account. Additionally, he impersonated the victim on calls to financial institutions and created a web banking profile for the victim’s account to further facilitate fraudulent transactions.

The OFR was the sole investigative agency in this criminal enforcement action. The Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution prosecuted the case.