Former Advisor Sentenced for Stealing Elderly Client's Life Savings

Posted on June 27th, 2024 at 1:32 PM
Former Advisor Sentenced for Stealing Elderly Client's Life Savings

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

Eddy Ray Blizzard, a former financial advisor, has been sentenced to 3.5 years in federal prison for stealing nearly $1 million from an elderly client. Blizzard's fraudulent activities spanned several years and caused severe financial and emotional distress to his victim, identified as "R.M."

As reported by ThinkAdvisor, Blizzard began exploiting R.M. shortly after the client retired in 2003. Blizzard's deception included asking R.M. for signed blank checks, which he used for personal expenses rather than for R.M.'s benefit. Despite R.M.’s repeated attempts to withdraw funds and resolve the discrepancies, Blizzard continually assured him that the funds would be available soon.

In addition to manipulating R.M.'s funds, Blizzard falsely claimed he had left his bank employment to become an independent advisor, convincing R.M. to continue meeting him for financial consultations, which took place in Blizzard’s car rather than in an office. Throughout this period, R.M. believed his retirement funds were secure and that Blizzard was handling his mortgage payments.

According to ThinkAdvisor, the situation escalated in August 2019 when R.M. discovered he could not withdraw funds for a vacation. After receiving no response from Blizzard for a week, R.M. went to Blizzard's home. Blizzard responded with a voicemail, falsely claiming he had lost all of R.M.’s money, attempted suicide, and was hospitalized. Blizzard later admitted that he had fabricated the story and had never been hospitalized.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

I am so blessed to have you and your dynamic team defending me. Your ethics, forward thinking and strategies are amazing.  You guys are the best group of attorneys in the country that I could hire to handle this complicated case.

Cindy C.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

February 6, 2026
Delaware Regulators Fine Kovack Advisors $985,000

Kovack Advisors Inc., the registered investment adviser affiliate of independent broker-dealer Kovack Securities Inc., agreed to pay a $985,000 fine to Delaware securities regulators.

February 5, 2026
FINRA Fines Broker-Dealer for Repeated Form CRS Disclosure Failures

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined VSI Securities Inc., formerly known as Venecredit Securities Inc., $20,000 for failing to accurately disclose the firm’s disciplinary history in its customer relationship summary, known as Form CRS.

February 4, 2026
Investor Redemptions Rise in Nontraded BDCs Amid Credit Concerns

Financial advisors and their clients have increased redemptions from nontraded business development companies (BDCs) following a series of high-profile corporate bankruptcies, according to InvestmentNews. The surge highlights growing investor concern about liquidity and credit exposure within these high-yield but often risky investment ...