Former Advisor Charged In Trust Theft

<p> Sept. 11–A former longtime contracted financial adviser with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. is facing charges he stole more than $150,000 from a trust he managed.

Stephen Voboril, 61, of New Berlin has been free on a $2,000 signature bond since formal criminal charges were filed in July. He waived a preliminary examination and is next scheduled to be in court later this month.

He is charged with three counts of theft in a business setting, special facts. Each carries a maximum penalty of six years.

Investigators at Northwestern Mutual first noticed suspicious transactions last fall, fired Voboril and turned the matter over to law enforcement, who served a search warrant at the company's offices in October and removed several computers.

When the investigation was first disclosed in February, Voboril's attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, said, "I think there are circumstances surrounding his business practices that some might criticize, but I don't think they're the basis for criminal charges."

Another member of Gimbel's firm, Jason Luczak, is now listed as Voboril's attorney. Luczak could not be reached Wednesday.

According to the criminal complaint:

Voboril became the trustee in 2007 for a trust established by a man who died in 1997.

The income from the trust was to be paid to the man's son, during his life, and any remaining principal distributed to St. Margaret Mary church.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, while he was acting as trustee, Voboril issued checks from the trust account for $50,000, $52,000 and $50,000 payable to himself. They were all deposited in Voboril's personal bank account.

The beneficiary of the trust, which had $247,000 in 2007, continued to get $1,000 each month and was unaware of Voboril's withdrawals.

A $50,000 withdrawal in 2009 appears to have been lent by Voboril to House of Carrington, a former golf apparel company in Waukesha County. Records show that the business repaid the money with interest the same year, but there is no record that any of the money was then returned to the trust, with or without the interest.

In 2010, Voboril moved $52,000 from the trust to his own account, and then wrote a check for the same amount as a capital contribution to Eurrica LLC, a company that invested in real estate and of which he was a partner.

Another $50,000 was removed from the trust in July 2011 and deposited in Voboril's personal account. That money appeared to be largely used for personal expenses for Voboril and his wife, according to the complaint.

After the investigation began, nearly $202,000 was paid to Northwestern Mutual Investment Services on Voboril's behalf, for deposit in the affected trust.

The complaint states "it is not known" whether the money constitutes all the funds due to the trust.

The criminal complaint does not include any counts related to withdrawals Voboril made from a $1.3 million account of a client who resided in a nursing home, transactions that were also subject of the earlier investigation.

Some of that money also appeared to be used to make loans to a business.

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