The Newton psychologist allegedly invested $600,000 of his patient’s money overseas after falling victim to a confidence scam.
A Newton psychologist will plead guilty to allegedly defrauding his psychotherapy patient and one of his own relatives, prosecutors said Friday.
Eric Brown, 76, was charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in an unlawful money transaction and has agreed to plead guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Brown allegedly defrauded the two victims out of nearly $1 million.
Brown’s psychotherapy patient was a Massachusetts resident who had been injured after being struck by a drunk driver, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement. In February 2022, the victim allegedly asked Brown to be the trustee of their trust, which held their approximately $700,000 settlement from the accident.
Brown allegedly had exclusive control over the victim’s money and was required as trustee to use it for the victim’s “health, support and maintenance,” according to prosecutors. Brown later allegedly fell victim to a scammer pretending to be in an online relationship with him, depleting the trust and investing $600,000 of the victim’s money overseas without telling them why, according to officials.
On a separate occasion, Brown allegedly deceived a family member into lending him $310,000, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Brown told his relative that he would spend the money on improvements to a commercial office building that he owned, allegedly neglecting to tell them about his online relationship or the overseas investment he intended to make.
Brown could face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, for the wire fraud charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. For the money laundering charge, he could face up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.
Brown’s plea hearing will be scheduled at a later date, prosecutors said.