Prison for financial planner who stole from elderly

Ng is said to have stolen some $218,000 from a Burlingame couple in their 60s by telling them he could take a portion of their retirement fund and invest it in a Northwestern Mutual account in 2006. He allegedly met regularly with the couple to discuss their investment strategy and, in 2015, told them the fund had reached optimal growth and that he would invest it in another account, according to prosecutors.

The couple is said to have received a letter from the IRS in 2017 requesting more information about their investments, prompting them to learn the money had been transferred to Ng and not into another account as he had allegedly promised them. Having told the couple his wife was suffering from a heart condition, Ng previously received loans from them, according to prosecutors.

Another 65-year-old woman was investing some $266,000 with Ng when he stopped returning her calls, and another elderly couple gave Ng nearly $2,100 to purchase an insurance policy they never received, according to prosecutors.

In custody on $3 million bail, Clement Ng, 62, received 442 days credit for time served when he was sentenced Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

When Ng pleaded no contest to multiple elder abuse and residential burglary charges Jan. 31, his defense attorney John Runfola said his client had lived a law-abiding life for 56 years but succumbed to an addiction to gambling.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said he was very pleased to learn of Judge Jeffrey Finigan’s sentence for Ng, noting there is no room for mercy for a person who takes advantage of the elderly.

“It’s one thing to be a thief, it’s another thing to be a thief who preys on the elderly,” he said, noting those who take advantage of the elderly deserve the same kind of treatment as those who take advantage of children. “They have a malignant heart that deserves no sympathy whatsoever.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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