Sung Moo “Sam” Cho, a former investment adviser, has pleaded guilty to wire and investment fraud after admitting to stealing $3.5 million from a client to finance a lavish lifestyle. The plea occurred on June 15 in Brooklyn federal court.
Court filings indicate that Cho, 44, preyed on his unnamed victim between 2023 and 2025. The embezzled funds were used for personal expenses, including vacations, expensive jewelry, student loans, and credit card debt. Cho allegedly fabricated account statements to conceal the missing funds from his client.
Cho's criminal activities spanned his time at both Ameriprise Financial and Citigroup. Citigroup terminated his employment in April after uncovering his fraudulent schemes. He bypassed internal compliance measures at both firms by forging the client’s signature on authorization forms to trigger unauthorized wire transfers. To obscure his involvement, Cho directed the funds to a company bank account in Queens, which was owned by a co-conspirator who received a kickback fee for laundering the money and returning it to accounts Cho controlled.
After regulators received a customer complaint, Citigroup investigated and subsequently fired Cho. A regulatory filing from the bank stated his termination was due to allegations involving the removal of customer personally identifiable information from firm systems to create non-firm generated statements and his refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation.
Further action was taken by Wall Street watchdog FINRA, which issued Cho a lifetime ban on June 25. This sanction followed his refusal to provide requested information and documents related to an investigation into potential misappropriation of customer funds, forgery of signatures, and falsification of firm documents. The FINRA ban prohibits Cho from registering as a broker or associating with any FINRA-member firm.
Cho, who previously held positions at Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Merrill Lynch before joining Ameriprise and later Citigroup, faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. The wire fraud charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years, and the investment adviser fraud charge carries a maximum of five years.
Cho has been released on a $200,000 bond and surrendered his passport. A trial date has not yet been set. Prosecutors are seeking full restitution for the victim and intend to seize any assets, including luxury property, jewelry, or cash, tied to the fraud. If Cho has already spent the illicit gains, the government reserves the right to seize substitute personal assets.