Financial Advisor Pleads Guilty to Swindling Clients
Financial advisor Donald M. Bickerstaff pleaded guilty Monday to swindling clients and banks out of millions of dollars.
More than 60 investors, mostly in California, suffered losses totaling more than $10 million, Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Crowe said. He said Bickerstaff’s fraud amounted to $15 million, but banks recouped some losses by seizing property, and Bickerstaff repaid 13 other investors by using bogus documents to obtain a line of credit.
More than 30 grim-faced investors in a San Francisco court watched as Bickerstaff, 38, pleaded guilty to 40 felony charges of mail and wire fraud, money-laundering and making false statements in loan applications. He is to be sentenced March 11 by U.S. District Judge Fern Smith and faces eight to 12 years in prison, Crowe said.
Investors have filed civil lawsuits and the government is seeking forfeiture of property, but there is little prospect of full recovery. The FBI says it has seized horses, cars and jewelry worth between $200,000 and $500,000.
Defense lawyer Michael Sterrett said Bickerstaff was cooperating fully with the FBI and investors.
Bickerstaff had offices in San Rafael and San Diego, operating as Bickerstaff Associates and BFA Financial Services Inc. He disappeared from his Mill Valley home in August, leaving behind a wife and two children. After traveling to his native Britain, he returned in October and turned himself in. He initially pleaded innocent but changed his plea without concessions by prosecutors.
