BIRMINGHAM – U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler today sentenced a certified public accountant and financial planner to nearly four years in prison on charges related to his stealing from clients, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and  U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Roy Sexton announced.

Judge Coogler sentenced ANDREW D. PETROFSKY, 31, of Birmingham, to 44 months in prison and ordered him to serve three years supervised release after completing his prison term. The judge also ordered PETROFSKY to pay $871,436 in restitution to his victims. He must report to prison May 17.

PETROFSKY pleaded guilty in December 2009 to one count each of wire fraud and forgery.

In his plea agreement, PETROFSKY acknowledged stealing $871,436 from six investment accounts he managed while working as a CPA and financial planner with Professional Asset Strategies between January 2006 and May 2008. He hid the thefts by falsifying the clients’ account statements. PETROFSKY also acknowledged forging a client’s name on a $3,000 check he wrote to himself.

According to the plea agreement, the thefts from PETROFSKY’S client accounts were discovered after he was caught stealing $281,000 from the Roteract Club of Birmingham, for which he was treasurer. PETROFSKY used some of the money he stole from client accounts to repay what he owed to Roteract. The thefts from Roteract were not included in the federal charges.
           
This case was investigated by the Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Hodge.

 

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