New HampshireDepartment of JusticeOffice of the Attorney General

News Release

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2018

Contact:
Robert F. Adams, Assistant Attorney General
Consumer Protection Bureau
(603) 271-2678

State v. James Knee

Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announces that on April 27, 2018, a Merrimack County Grand Jury returned 11 indictments against James E. Knee (age 65), a former Concord, New Hampshire investment adviser with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and Voya Financial Advisors, Inc., relating to conduct between 2014 and 2017.

The indictments charge Mr. Knee with theft by misapplication, theft by deception, financial exploitation of the elderly, and investment adviser fraud in connection with courses of conduct relating to one of his investment advisory clients from whom he allegedly illegally obtained over $490,397, which he then used for his own personal expenses.

Mr. Knee was also indicted for perjury in connection with statements that he made to the Bureau of Securities Regulation ("BSR") during its 2016 investigation of Mr. Knee, witness tampering during the State's investigation, and a securities law violation concerning a 2016 Agreement entered into with the BSR.

Mr. Knee, who had previously left the country after being advised in June 2017 that the State intended to seek indictments against him, was arrested on a criminal complaint filed by the Attorney General in 6th Circuit—District Division – Concord Court when he returned to the United States on March 1, 2018.

Mr. Knee will be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court on a date scheduled by the Court.

The charges and allegations in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

New Hampshire Department of Justice
1 Granite Place South | Concord, NH | 03301
Telephone: 603-271-3658