Thomas P. Gibbons, 44, of Forest Hill, pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud and using a scam to steal $1,648,315 announced U. S Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to the statement of facts provided to the court as part of the plea agreement, Gibbons, a financial planner with Bank of America, diverted funds belonging to his clients into his own bank account at Provident Bank between February 1999 and March 2005.
As a financial planner, Gibbons had authority to purchase and sell securities on behalf of a number of clients. Gibbons diverted the funds through a series of transactions, without the knowledge or consent of his clients or Bank of America.
Investigation revealed that on multiple occasions Gibbons caused the proceeds from the sales of portions of his clients’ investment accounts to be used for his own personal expenditures.
He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a fine of $1,000,000. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for Aug. 11.