Wisc. broker facing charges over stealing town’s money

A former broker in Wisconsin is facing nine felony charges from allegedly taking more than $300,000 from the town of Ackley and the Rural Fire Control while he was treasurer of both groups, according to local news reports.

Gary A Kieper, who was barred from the securities industry this week, was registered at Thrivent Investment Management Inc. from 2000 to the end of 2022, according to his BrokerCheck report. He was charged with the felonies in March in state court in Langlade County, according to BrokerCheck.

Kieper's attorney, John Bradley, did not return a call on Wednesday to comment. Kieper did not cooperate with an investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. into the matter and on Tuesday reached a settlement with Finra, barring him from the industry.

In a bizarre note to the case, Kieper, 69, has reportedly blamed the rest of the town board and stated, "what do you think is going to happen when nobody is watching," according to online reports.

"That's pretty shocking stuff," said Max Schatzow, an industry attorney. "I imagine the broker's attorney told him to focus on the criminal side of this and not testify in the Finra issue."

According to BrokerCheck, Kieper was Town Treasurer for Ackley, which is in north central Wisconsin. He was also secretary treasurer of the volunteer fire department, the Langlade County Rural Fire Control.

His job description as Town Treasurer included bookkeeping, collecting property taxes and balancing the town's financial records.

According to a March report in the Wausau Daily Herald, an Ackley township board member last year filed a complaint that Kieper was mishandling town money. While investigating, the Sheriff's Office learned Kieper was also the treasurer for Rural Fire Control and there were concerns about the way he handled money for them as well.

"During an extensive investigation, Langlade County Sheriff's Office detectives traced thousands of dollars that were transferred from the town of Ackley and Rural Fire Control accounts into various personal accounts owned by Kieper," according to the newspaper. "The investigation revealed an excess of $300,000 had been stolen."

At an arraignment last week, Kieper declined to enter a plea, so a local judge Rick Cveykus entered the not guilty pleas for him. No trial date was set. Kieper returns to court July 26 for a status conference.

Finra last month barred a former Wells Fargo Advisor broker, Andrew Egber, who left the firm in 2018 but was recently accused of theft by his former employer.