Former N.J. Advisor Sentenced For Defrauding His Parents Out Of $1.3M

TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 8 — The New Jersey Attorney General issued the following news release:

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a former Morris County financial advisor was sentenced to state prison today for defrauding his parents out of more than $1.3 million while serving as their financial advisor.

Hugh R. Hunsinger, Jr., 50, of Pine Brook, was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Edward Jerejian in Bergen County. Hunsinger's insurance producer license will be suspended for a period of five years. In addition, Hunsinger executed a consent judgment in the amount of $1,354,496 in favor of his parents. The sentence was based on Hunsinger's Aug. 6 guilty plea to a criminal accusation charging him with second-degree theft by unlawful taking.

"The victims in this case believed that they could trust their son to invest money on their behalf," Acting Attorney General Hoffman said. "The defendant violated that trust and instead cheated his parents out of more than a million dollars. As demonstrated by the prison sentence imposed today, such blatant disregard for the law will not be tolerated in the state of New Jersey."

"This office will vigorously prosecute heinous behavior such as this, where a financial advisor defrauded his own parents out of more than a million dollars of their hard-earned retirement fund," Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi said. "Such defendants deserve prison, as the court appropriately determined in this case."

In pleading guilty, Hunsinger admitted that between Jan. 31, 2005 and July 8, 2011, he systematically transferred approximately $1,354,496 from certain accounts that he was managing on behalf of his parents, without their authorization, to his personal accounts and used the money for his own personal living expenses. Hunsinger worked as a financial advisor for Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation at the time of such transfers. An investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that, as a result of the unauthorized transfers, Hunsinger's parents were left with only a nominal amount of money in their accounts.

Sgt. Anthony Butler and Detectives Natalie Brotherston and Taryn Kong from the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor coordinated the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Bradford Muller represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.

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