US-based regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Darryl Cohen with misappropriating funds more than $1m from three current and former NBA players over a period of two and a half years.
Cohen was a former investment adviser at Morgan Stanley.
According to the SEC’s complaint, from October 2017 through April 2020, Cohen used client funds, without their understanding or authorisation, for personal expenditures including to support his son’s amateur basketball programme, for a home gym, and to pay back another client whose funds Cohen had misappropriated.
Cohen also allegedly sold life insurance settlements to the clients for kickbacks to fund his home improvements.
Andrew Dean, co-chief of the asset management unit at the SEC, said: “As the complaint alleges, instead of protecting his clients’ investments, Cohen took advantage of their trust for his personal gain. Protecting investors from fraud by their financial advisers is a priority for the SEC.”
