Financial advisor stole $1.6 million in clients funds, according to DOJ

TLDR:

• A 47-year-old Edina financial advisor, Kristi Berge, misappropriated $1.6 million of her clients’ funds over a nearly three-year period.
• Berge faces one count of wire fraud for withdrawing funds from clients’ accounts and depositing them into her own bank accounts.

An article from CBS Minnesota reports that Kristi Berge, the CEO of Keep Safe Investments and J&K Connect LLC in Edina, allegedly stole $1.6 million from her clients between June 2020 and Feb. 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Berge misled her clients by assuring them that their money was safe in investment accounts while withdrawing funds ranging from $5,000 to $220,000, which she then transferred to her personal accounts. To conceal her actions, she labeled the transactions as “management” or “administrative” fees and fabricated records to make it seem like she had permission to make the withdrawals. Berge is set to appear in court on March 7.