Laguna Beach : Investment Counselor Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A Laguna Beach investment adviser pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal wire fraud charge in connection with the misappropriation of $40,000 from a defunct cable television company.

Jeffry Scott Vale, 46, was a business consultant for High Desert Broadcasting Corp., which formerly served Victorville, Lancaster and other desert areas of Southern California.

Vale was in New York negotiating a contract on behalf of the cable company when he advised High Desert to wire him $40,000 and subsequently diverted the money to his own use, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. David A. Katz.

Katz said that Vale is on probation in Indiana after being convicted of acting as an unregistered investment adviser. Vale faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the latest charge.

U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian set Aug. 24 for sentencing.