NEW YORK (AP) - A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker was arrested Thursday on charges he stole $20 million from clients over a four-year period, using some of the money to make personal investments and pay a home loan.
Bail was set for Michael Oppenheim, 48, of Livingston, New Jersey, at $1 million by a magistrate judge who also required home detention and electronic monitoring.
Oppenheim's lawyer, Richard Gamburg, said his client would plead not guilty to charges including wire fraud, embezzlement, investment adviser fraud and securities fraud. He said he expected Oppenheim to be released Friday.
Mike Fusco, a JPMorgan spokesman, said the bank alerted authorities to the crimes and worked closely with officials. He said Oppenheim was a financial adviser at a Manhattan branch.
"We are sorry and angry this happened," Fusco said. "We always stand by our customers and will ensure no customer who had their money stolen will lose any funds related to this."
Authorities said Oppenheim convinced clients to consent to the withdrawal of hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars from their bank accounts on false representations that he would invest the money in low-risk municipal bonds. Sometimes, they added, he would simply withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars from their accounts.
Authorities said Oppenheim used the money for himself - in online trading accounts he controlled and to pay his home loan and bills.
Sometimes, authorities said, Oppenheim gave clients fraudulent bank statements reflecting municipal bonds that were in fact held by other customers.
If convicted, he could face up to 75 years in prison. Prosecutors said he carried out the fraud at least from March 2011 to last month, when he was fired.
"Investment advisers are required to act in the best interest of their clients," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez, head of the New York office. "Oppenheim did just the opposite by allegedly taking advantage of those who trusted him. As alleged, he concealed their money in a game of hide-and-seek and personally benefited from illegitimately obtained profits."
Oppenheim also faces civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.