Ex-LPL adviser arrested in Illinois on theft charges

Bradley Goodbred now faces criminal charges of stealing money from an elderly client, in addition to civil charges from the SEC.

Already facing civil charges of theft from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bradley A. Goodbred, who was registered with LPL Financial from 2009 to 2021, was arrested last week by local police in suburban Chicago.

Goodbred’s arrest last Wednesday stemmed from a 2021 investigation “in which it was initially reported that Goodbred, acting as both a financial adviser and financial power of attorney for an elderly victim, misappropriated funds belonging to the victim between 2012 to 2020,” according to a statement by the Yorkville Police Department.

“Goodbred solicited one of his clients and did not use the client’s money to make investments on the client’s behalf,” the police department’s statement said. “Instead, he used the client’s money for his personal gain.”

The statement didn’t indicate how much money Goodbred, 54, allegedly stole, but in September the SEC charged him with stealing $1.3 million from the client, who currently suffers from dementia. LPL Financial “discharged,” meaning fired, Goodbred in January 2021, according to his BrokerCheck profile.

Goodbred did not return a call Tuesday morning to comment.

According to police records, he was released after posting a bond of $25,000 and faces more than 20 charges related to the alleged theft. The charges include 12 felony counts of “financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability.”

Goodbred was barred from the securities industry last year for not cooperating with an investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

The SEC complaint from September alleged that from 2012 to 2020, Goodbred solicited one of his clients, who’s now 97 years old, to send him money to make purported investments in real estate investment trusts on her behalf and to transfer the money to one of his businesses. The complaint further alleged that to fund some of the purported investments, the client, with Goodbred’s advice and approval, sold securities in her account and transferred the proceeds to Goodbred.