Exclusive | Rogue Wall Street adviser stole $3.5M from client to fund lavish lifestyle filled with luxe getaways

A rogue ex-Citi money man could face up to 25 years in prison after he admitted to looting $3.5 million from a trusting client’s life savings, according to court filings reviewed by The Post. Disgraced investment adviser Sung Moo “Sam” Cho, 44, pleaded guilty on June 15 to wire and investment fraud in Brooklyn federal court for stealing the funds from a wealthy Franklin Lakes, NJ, resident to fund his lavish lifestyle, the filings show.He preyed on his unnamed victim between 2023 and 2025, spending the embezzled money on fancy vacations and expensive jewelry, as well as paying off student loans and credit card debt, according to documents posted on the Eastern District of New York court docket.A now-deleted biography on Citi’s wealth management website states that he joined the Jane Fraser-led firm in October 2025 from Ameriprise Financial after completing stints at Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch.The criminal activity took place at both Ameriprise and Citi, who fired him in April when they uncovered his fraudulent schemes.Cho bypassed internal compliance at both firms by forging the client’s signature on authorization forms.He triggered massive, unauthorized wire transfers out of the client’s account, court documents state.To keep his own name off the paper trail, Cho wired the millions straight to a company bank account in Queens, according to the filings. A co-conspirator owned the unidentified business and collected a kickback fee to wash the money and wire it back into accounts Cho directly controlled, the documents read.“In exchange for facilitating the scheme, Cho paid the co-conspirator a fee,” prosecutors said.

“Through this scheme, Cho embezzled approximately $3.5 million.”The University at Buffalo alum, a self-described “faithful and hopeful Jets, Mets and Nets fan,” told the client the funds went into a legitimate investment and fabricated completely fake account statements that hid the missing millions. “In...