Financial advisor sentenced to 5 years in prison for fraud scheme

A federal judge in Fort Worth has sentenced a financial advisor to five years in prison for a scheme that netted her more than $3 million in three years.

Dusty Sternadel, 43, faces jail time after a jury convicted her of stealing money from clients. Her scheme was built around money transfers that confused her clients.

For example, in the case of one victim, Sternadel transferred money from the victim's brokerage account to the same victim's own checking account. Then she told the client that the extra money in the checking account was an accident and that it was supposed to go to someone else.

Her victims believed it and wrote checks for the alleged overpayment to Sternadel, who put the money in her pocket. In all she cheated 10 victims out of $1.2 million before she was caught. Because Sternadel worked for a brokerage firm, the company was forced to refund the victims.

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