An accounting firm in New Milford and its owner have been barred from providing investment-advisory services in Connecticut for seven years after the owner pleaded guilty to larceny charges related to client fraud. Carl Benjamin Levi Anderson (also known as Ben Anderson) and his firm, Anderson Accounting & Finance LLC, entered into a consent order […]
An accounting firm in New Milford and its owner have been barred from providing investment-advisory services in Connecticut for seven years after the owner pleaded guilty to larceny charges related to client fraud.
Carl Benjamin Levi Anderson (also known as Ben Anderson) and his firm, Anderson Accounting & Finance LLC, entered into a consent order with the state Department of Banking on Nov. 18.
Anderson pleaded guilty on March 28 to two counts of first-degree larceny and one count of third-degree larceny, and was sentenced to eight years in prison — suspended after three — followed by three years of probation.
According to the consent order, a Connecticut investor approached Anderson in March 2022 seeking tax-preparation help. Anderson represented himself as a financial adviser and proposed opening and managing a Roth IRA for the investor.
In June 2022, the investor gave Anderson a check for $25,000 for the retirement account. When the investor later requested account statements and updates, Anderson and his firm provided none.
Investigators found no evidence that the Roth IRA was ever opened; instead, the check was cashed at a check-cashing business. Anderson later repaid the investor the full $25,000.
Neither Anderson nor the firm was registered in Connecticut to act as an investment adviser, broker-dealer or agent, in violation of the state’s Uniform Securities Act.
The order bars Anderson and the firm from offering or selling securities in or from Connecticut, or functioning as broker-dealers, agents, investment advisers or investment adviser agents. It also imposes a $100,000 administrative fine, which is stayed for three years.
If the Department of Banking determines he is able to pay, or misrepresented his finances, the fine becomes immediately due. After three years, the fine will be waived, based on the order.
Anderson Accounting & Finance was formed Oct. 3, 2021, and was located at 1 Executive Center Drive, New Milford.
