Former CO Adviser Admits $1.7M Scheme Against Teachers

Gordon Robert Moore, 31, entered the guilty plea in Colorado District Court to charges of theft, computer crime, and securities fraud. He faces up to 30 years when he is sentenced February 26.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers charged that Moore contacted 141 Colorado public school teachers from 11 school districts and asked them to transfer 401(k) assets with the state’s Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) into different AXA accounts.

According to the charges, the rollovers violated Internal Revenue Service rules on when participants are eligible to take distributions. Moore allegedly advised the educators to execute the rollovers anyway.

Moore was also charged with forging participants’ signatures on documents stating that the employees had been terminated.

News reports said the probe into the adviser’s activities began after PERA officials learned that improper distributions had taken place. PERA officials said they are cooperating with AXA in a bid to recover the $1.7 million. AXA said that Moore was terminated in July 2007 as a result of the Attorney General’s investigation.

The indictment can be found here.