A Bakersfield certified public accountant pleaded guilty Monday to soliciting more than $2 million from investors under the guise of collecting money for an overseas business deal but then used a portion of those funds for personal uses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District.
Jeffrey Todd Stewart, 57, received money from investors between September 2014 and September 2018 for an apparent overseas business deal, a news release said. Though Stewart used most of the money for the purported deal, he spent $355,000 on expenses such as his mortgage, trips to Las Vegas and gambling, federal prosecutors said.
Stewart is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 and faces the maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.