Perry Hall man pleads guilty to defrauding elderly client of $1 million

Dec. 20—By Caitlyn Freeman — cfreeman@baltsun.com

December 20, 2023 at 2:53 p.m.

A Perry Hall man pled guilty in Maryland's U.S. District Court Tuesday to stealing approximately $1 million from an elderly client's retirement account, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said.

Eddy Blizzard, 45, a former financial adviser, is facing up to 30 years in federal prison for bank fraud after he knowingly executed a fraud scheme against a long-time elderly client, who the courts refer to as R.M., a news release states.

Blizzard's fraudulent practices resulted in about $1 million in losses for R.M., the plea documents state. Of that, Blizzard obtained at least $848,445 in proceeds.

"This defendant perpetrated a heartless scheme that preyed on a vulnerable elderly victim, stealing more than a million dollars," U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said in a statement. "We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who engage in these despicable schemes targeting elderly victims."

Blizzard's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment by publication.

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Blizzard was authorized to work as a stockbroker and seller of mutual funds, according to the plea agreement documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. He was previously employed at the Catonsville branch of M&T Bank as well as a SunTrust branch in Maryland.

In 2003, R.M., a retired air conditioning technician, decided to invest his retirement funds and sought investment advice through M&T Bank, where he met Blizzard. R.M. is described in court documents as "not able to read or write."

Blizzard told R.M. that he decided to work as an independent financial adviser in 2005 and asked if he'd leave M&T to have Blizzard as a full-time adviser. The two would go on to meet in Blizzard's car once a month for the next several years. Blizzard would oversee R.M.'s accounts and make payments for him.

However, Blizzard never worked as an independent financial adviser, the plea documents state.

Around 2010, Blizzard began asking R.M. for blank signed checks, which he used for personal expenses. In the near decade that followed, Blizzard went on to deplete R.M.'s life savings.

"Blizzard admitted that after he became R.M.'s financial advisor, he began asking R.M. for signed blank checks," the news release said. "R.M. recalled giving Blizzard 15-20 signed blank checks. Blizzard filled in the remaining information to include the payee, the amount, the date, and detailed memo section, but R.M. did not know what the checks were for."

Between January 2013 and August 2019, 242 distributions totaling $1.4 million from R.M.'s depository and investment accounts were made. Of those 129 distributions totaling $1.2 million were taken from R.M.'s retirement accounts instead of regular systematic annuity payments, the news release states.

From April 2016 to April 2019, 112 checks totaling approximately $848,000 were deposited into accounts held by Blizzard or jointly with his wife, the documents state. The memo section of the checks indicated the payments were used for various personal expenses of Blizzard such as boat payments, property taxes and down payment for a new home.

Blizzard also stole R.M.'s Social Security income on at least three separate occasions, the plea documents said. Additionally, R.M.'s house went into foreclosure in 2019 after Blizzard allegedly failed to make mortgage payments on it.

"During his years of investment with Blizzard, R.M. believed that his retirement funds were protected, meaning they would not lose value — a fact that Blizzard reiterated to R.M. many times," the release states. "R.M. also believed that Blizzard was handling payment of R.M.'s mortgage."

In addition to the potential prison time, Blizzard is required to pay restitution of at least $1,030,000 and to forfeit $848,000 in the form of a money judgment.

He will be sentenced on April 30, 2024.

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