CHICAGO–A financial advisor here is suspected of stealing as much as $100 million from clients and investors.
According to federal charges filed this by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Northern District of Illinois, the financial advisor and accountant, Sultan Issa, allegedly used the money to go on an extraordinary 10-year crime spree, forging documents and stealing money. Issa has also been named as a defendant in lawsuits filed by several of the alleged victims.
J.P. Morgan Chase, the bank that held the funds of some of the alleged victims, has also been named as a defendant.
According to prosecutors, over those 10 years Issa allegedly used the money to buy 25 homes from Montana to Mexico, including three condos in Trump Tower, two private planes, four motor yachts, 60 guns, jewelry, and other luxuries. Issa has been charged by federal prosecutors with criminal fraud.
$55 Million from One Victim
According to federal prosecutors, Issa “fraudulently obtained at least $55 million in funds” from one of the victims and his family office, another $8.8 million from 13 other investors, and allegedly conned banks and other financial institutions into making $83 million in loans. He allegedly borrowed $5 million from a New York bank secured against one victim’s valuable Chinese art, according to another suit.
Prosecutors said they believe the amount stolen is at least $65 million, but the full extent of the embezzlement “remains to be determined.”