The FBI and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the charges.
Williams had been a client of Belardino at a previous firm. When Belardino founded Maddox in 2019, Williams transferred more than $313,000 to the new firm. However, instead of investing the funds, Belardino used it for payroll, rent, to pay down personal debt and other operating expenses.
In September 2021, Williams instructed Belardino to move her money to an account with another firm but got the run-around and bounced checks.
Read the full article from Patch.