BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release on Monday that Bakersfield CPA Jeffrey Todd Stewart has pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
The DOJ press release says that between September 2014 and June 2018, Stewart, who was employed as a certified public accountant in Bakersfield at the time, asked for and got more than $2 million from investors. Stewart said the money was for an overseas investment and promised investors significant returns.
The DOJ says that although Stewart appears to have used the majority of the money for the business deal, he also stole $355,000 of investors' money and used it on personal expenses, including his mortgage payment and gambling trips to Las Vegas.
Stewart is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21, 2023. He faces, at the discretion of the court, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
