Mandeville financial adviser gets 14-year sentence for stealing $1M from clients

A Mandeville investment adviser who admitted stealing up to $1.5 million from elderly clients has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday (Nov. 14).

In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick ordered Ralph Savoie, 71, to pay $1.1 million in restitution to his victims and forfeit $1.1 million, according to U.S. Attorney Brandon J. Fremin in Baton Rouge. Savoie must serve three years of supervised release after completing the prison term.

Savoie pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud, admitting that instead of investing his clients’ funds, he spent the money on jewelry, hotels and restaurants, used it to pay his credit card bills and rent, and to pay off other victims who had previously invested their money with him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. He was sentenced on Tuesday and immediately taken into federal custody.

“This conviction and sentence sends a loud and clear message – those who abuse their fiduciary responsibilities and take advantage of the elderly in this district will face the full might of the federal government,” Fremin said in the release.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/crime/2018/11/mandeville-financial-adviser-gets-14-year-sentence-for-stealing-1m-from-clients.html