Former Defiance securities broker indicted on fraud charges

7/22/2008

A longtime financial adviser at a Defiance bank was indicted in U.S. District Court on charges that he embezzled more than $850,000 from his customers over an eight-month period.

Jeffrey D. Hunt, 71, of Defiance, was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud. According to the indictment filed Friday, he conducted about 36 fraudulent transactions on 19 customer accounts, resulting in a loss to the customers of $855,624.74.

Federal prosecutors said the incidents occurred between August, 2006, and April, 2007, at First Federal Bank of the Midwest. Mr. Hunt was a licensed securities broker who conducted transactions for customers using a third-party broker dealer, the indictment said. While conducting these transactions, he fraudulently sent money to accounts for businesses he controlled, prosecutors said.