Financial Advisor Sentenced to Federal Prison for Defrauding Elderly Client
ATLANTA / Monday, September 14, 2026 – Ejiroghene O. Okuma, a financial adviser who defrauded an elderly client out of nearly $10 million, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for wire fraud.
“Under the guise of acting as a financial adviser, Okuma abused the trust placed in him by an elderly client,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “His sentence should send a clear message to fiduciaries who may be tempted to steal: we will seek lengthy prison sentences to punish those who exploit vulnerable citizens to line their own pockets.”
“Okuma betrayed the trust of an elderly client and exploited his position as a financial adviser to steal nearly $10 million for his own personal benefit,” said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “He used his access and authority to systematically drain his victim’s accounts while funneling the stolen money into lavish purchases and other personal expenses. The FBI will aggressively pursue financial predators who exploit their positions of trust and prey on vulnerable victims.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: Okuma was an investment adviser who received complete access to the brokerage account of an elderly client (“Victim-1”) in 2016.
In February 2022, Okuma was appointed to administer the estate of Victim-1’s sister. The next month, Okuma began embezzling from Victim-1 by falsely representing that the sister’s estate required funds. Believing Okuma’s lies, Victim-1 permitted Okuma to transfer $500,000 from a brokerage account to a bank account purportedly held for the estate. Without Victim-1’s knowledge, Okuma then transferred those funds to a bank account in the name of his wife’s company. Later, in June 2022, Okuma stole approximately $400,000 by transferring (i) funds he deceived Victim-1 into paying as part of administering the sister’s estate and (ii) proceeds from the sale of the sister’s residence.
After embezzling nearly $1 million from Victim-1 through lies about Victim-1’s sister’s estate, Okuma set up fraudulent accounts to steal millions more from Victim-1. In February 2023, Okuma opened an unauthorized brokerage account in the name of a revocable trust involving Victim-1. On the same day that Okuma opened the fraudulent brokerage account, he opened a bank account in his own name and added himself as a custodian to an existing bank account in Victim-1’s name, giving himself the ability to withdraw funds without Victim-1’s approval.
Within days, Okuma began draining Victim-1’s brokerage accounts. By the end of February 2023, Okuma had transferred approximately $9 million of Victim-1’s funds to the fraudulently opened brokerage account without Victim-1’s knowledge. Between August 2023 and March 2025, Okuma moved that money to other accounts he controlled and used it to, among other things, purchase a $5.2 million residence in Vinings, Georgia, purchase an approximately $1.4 million beach club membership, and donate approximately $340,000 to his church.
On September 11, 2026, Ejiroghene O. Okuma, 44, of Smyrna, Georgia, was sentenced to seven years, four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Restitution will be decided at a hearing that will be scheduled at a later date. Okuma was convicted of one count of wire fraud after pleading guilty on March 17, 2026.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with valuable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For more information about the Department of Justice’s efforts to help older Americans and to combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and fraud, please visit https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice. The Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.
Assistant United States Attorney Samir Kaushal and former Assistant United States Attorney Alex R. Sistla prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6185. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia
