Edina financial advisor stole $1.6 million in clients funds, DOJ says
EDINA, Minn. — A 47-year-old Edina financial advisor faces one count of wire fraud for allegedly misappropriating $1.6 million of her clients' funds over a nearly three-year period.
Kristi Berge founded and served as the CEO of Keep Safe Investments, or "KSI Financial," as well as J&K Connect LLC, a company that invested in real estate. Both companies were based in Edina.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between June 2020 and Feb. 2023, Berge told her clients that their money was safe in investment accounts. She withdrew funds between $5,000 and $220,000 and deposited them into bank accounts she controlled.
She labeled the deposits as "management" or "administrative" fees, and fabricated records, the DOJ said. She then fabricated records to give the impression that she had been authorized to withdraw the funds.
Berge will make her first court appearance on March 7.