GREENWICH — A Greenwich-based investment advisor has admitted to defrauding more than 45 clients of $2.7 million through a “cherry-picking” securities scheme that prosecutors said benefited himself and favored clients at the expense of others.
Jonathan Vincent Glenn, 54, the founder, owner and sole employee of advisory firm GlennCap LLC, pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court Thursday to one count of securities fraud, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery announced in a news release.
Avery said Glenn, who is not in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 28. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of about $5.4 million. His conviction comes less than a month after he agreed to pay $3 million to settle fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Glenn was charged with “cherry-picking,” or steering profitable stock trades to favored accounts, including family members, according to prosecutors and the SEC. The alleged fraud occurred between January 2020 and March 2022 and resulted in $2.7 million in profits for Glenn and favored clients.
“Glenn did not inform his clients that he was ‘cherry picking,’ ” Avery said in the release. “Instead, he gave the false impression that he allocated trades fairly and according to a pre-determined allocation methodology.”
After seeing whether or not a block of trades had gone up or down in value, Glenn allegedly reallocated profitable trades to favored accounts. The SEC has said the agency discovered the questionable practices through its routine monitoring of financial professionals.
According to its most recent SEC filing, Glenn Capital LLC had $14 million in assets under management and 75 clients, all defined as “high net worth individuals.” The company did business in Connecticut, New York and Texas.
Although headquartered in Greenwich, the company did not submit a physical address and said it saw clients by appointment only. Only one employee was listed, Jonathan Vincent Glenn.
Staff writer Liese Klein contributed to this report.
