Crescent-News.com - Local man indicted on 10 counts of fraud

TOLEDO -- A former investment adviser for a Defiance financial institution has been indicted by a federal grand jury here.

Jeffrey Hunt, 31, of Defiance, was indicted on 10 counts of wire fraud in Toledo's U.S. District Court.

The charges allege 36 "fraudulent transactions on 19 customer accounts, resulting in a loss to the customers of $855,624.74." This allegedly occurred between August 2006 and April 27 at First Federal Bank of the Midwest, 601 Clinton St., Defiance, according to federal authorities.

The indictment further alleges that Hunt, a licensed securities broker, used a third-party broker dealer and illegally sent funds to accounts for businesses he controlled.

According to the district court's clerks office, the indictment was filed Friday, but no arraignment date had been set as of this morning.

The federal indictment is not the only case pending against Hunt.

A year ago First Federal Bank of the Midwest and its sister company, First Insurance and Investments Inc., 419 Fifth St., filed a civil lawsuit against Hunt and his wife, Kylee, 146971 Ohio 111, and their businesses, Buckeye Family Investments LLC, Archbold, and the Stake Co. LLC of Defiance, in Defiance County Common Pleas Court.

The suit alleged that Hunt admitted taking money and assets from the plaintiffs' customers without their knowledge or approval. It seeks to recover more than $800,000 in funds that Hunt allegedly transferred from the accounts of First Federal's customers without authorization.

According to court sources, the civil lawsuit remains pending in common pleas court.

Hunt's attorney in the civil suit, Richard Kerger of Toledo, had said last year that his client "made some mistakes" and had always intended to repay everyone.

Not long after the suit was filed, First Federal officials said none of their customers would "suffer a loss on investments."