S.F. accountant gets 2½ years for theft

A federal judge sentenced a prominent San Francisco accountant to 30 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1.3 million from a client and using the money to pay off debts and a vacation rental in Hawaii.

Cary Collins, 56, was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering after he pleaded guilty in January to tricking a female friend into making four wire transfers for supposed investments and then using the money for himself, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in San Francisco.

In addition to prison, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ordered Collins on Tuesday to pay a $10,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release after he serves his time.

“Collins described the victim as a ‘client and friend,’ ” said a news release by U.S. Attorney Alex Tse and Tara Sullivan, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service. “Nevertheless, the defendant admitted he used his education and experience as a CPA, the position of trust he had developed as a financial advisor, and his personal relationship to convince the client to provide funds for the fraud.”

Collins admitted in court that he convinced his client to wire $1,325,000 to his company bank account between February 2012 and April 2013 under the guise that he would put the money in an investment account in her name, according to the complaint.

He instead used the money on a vacation rental in Hawaii, credit card debts and paid off fines from a previous contempt order filed against him. He delayed paying her back for a year after his client got wise to the scheme in 2012 and demanded to know what happened to the money. He finally paid her back after she obtained a security interest on Collins’ home, the U.S. attorney said.

Collins was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 17, 2015, on four counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering and one count of preparing a false tax return. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 31 to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering.