The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed an emergency action charging investment adviser Matthew O. Clason, of Cheshire, Connecticut, with stealing thousands of dollars from an advisory client. In its action, the SEC seeks an asset freeze and other relief.

The SEC alleges that, beginning in February 2019, Clason stole over $300,000 from a retired 73-year-old advisory client. According to the SEC's complaint, Clason perpetrated the fraud by liquidating securities in the client's accounts, transferring the proceeds from the sales to a bank account held jointly with the client for investment purposes and to facilitate the payment of miscellaneous monthly expenses, and withdrawing cash from the account on numerous occasions and at different bank locations. The complaint alleges that the client did not know of or approve the withdrawals and did not receive the cash that Clason withdrew.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Connecticut, alleges that Clason violated the antifraud provisions of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC is requesting that the court enter an order freezing Clason's assets and requiring an accounting. The SEC also seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

The SEC's case is being handled by Susan Cooke Anderson, Alfred A. Day, Patrick J. Noone, and Michele T. Perillo of the Boston Regional Office. An examination conducted by MaryKate Kelley, Paul A. D'Amico, Mark Gera, Joshua S. Grinspoon, and Raymond Tan of the Boston Regional Office led to the investigation.