Former Bay Area Investment Advisor Barred From Business

SAN MATEO—Fred Albert Schluep, a former investment advisor accused of illegally transferring funds out of clients’ accounts to make investments in real estate and other deals, has been barred from association with any investment adviser.

Last year, Schluep, a former investment adviser, was charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed suit against him in federal district court in San Francisco for unauthorized transfer of funds among his clients.

According to the SEC, Schluep was accused of defrauding 26 clients of his former San Mateo firm, CRA Financial Planners, by performing $5 million in unauthorized transactions over a decade-long period ending in 2001. The SEC says that Schluep lied to his clients to get their investment money, which he used to his advantage by forging the clients’ signatures on checks and fund transfer documents.