The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has achieved a major legal victory with a $4.8 million judgment against investment adviser Julie Anne Darrah, following allegations that she defrauded elderly clients out of more than $2 million.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer signed an order mandating Darrah to disgorge over $2.2 million, pay a civil penalty of an equal amount, and pay nearly $170,000 in prejudgment interest. Darrah consented to the judgment earlier this month, according to the docket.

Filed in October 2023, the SEC’s suit accuses Darrah and her firm, Vivid Financial Management Inc., of violating the Securities Act and the Advisers Act by misappropriating roughly $2.3 million from at least nine clients. The SEC claims Darrah used her position of trust to gain control of her clients' assets and spent the funds on personal and business expenses between 2016 and 2023.

In one instance, the SEC asserts that Darrah defrauded a memory care facility patient by acting as the patient's trustee. She allegedly opened bank accounts in the patient's name and misappropriated over $1 million by selling securities held in the patient’s brokerage accounts. She transferred the proceeds to the patient’s bank accounts and took an additional $19,000 in advisory fees.

The SEC also claims that PC&J Joint Ventures LLC, a restaurant operating company partially owned by Darrah, was a relief defendant in the scheme, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of the misappropriated funds.

The SEC further alleges that Darrah helped Vivid Financial Management violate the SEC's custody rule by failing to hire a public accountant for annual surprise examinations of the firm’s brokerage and bank accounts.

The fraud was concealed, the SEC says, by Darrah changing client account mailing addresses to her own, preventing clients from receiving statements from custodians.

Representatives from the SEC did not respond to comment requests. Darrah’s legal team includes Bruce M. Lewitas of Lewitas Hyman PC and Edward M. Robinson of the Law Office of Edward M. Robinson. PC&J Joint Ventures LLC is represented by Andrew M. Purdy of Brown Neri Smith & Khan LLP and Jeremy W. Faith and Meghann Triplett of Margulies Faith LLP.

The case, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Julie Anne Darrah et al., is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.