Power Of Attorney

The office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said that it has charged a Cape Cod financial advisor with diverting money from elderly investors to a company she controlled.

The complaint alleges that Carlene B. Veara, then a registered representative in the Hyannis branch of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, gained power of attorney for a 98-year-old woman in failing health and transferred about $177,000 from the woman's Morgan Stanley Smith Barney assets to a company that Veara controlled, the complaint alleges.

And so far, investigators in Galvin's office have uncovered that about $443,000 was shifted from other Veara clients at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to Veara's company, the complaint alleges.

An attempt to reach Veara was not immediately successful. Veara's attorney declined to comment.

The complaint notes that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney discharged Veara shortly after the securities division of Galvin's office began an examination of the books in the firm's Hyannis branch office.

Among other things, Galvin's complaint seeks a cease-and-desist order against Veara, compensation to investors, a retroactive revocation of her registration as a broker dealer, and an administrative fine.

Galvin said in a statement, "The charges in this complaint highlight an outrageous abuse of trust that appears to have targeted elderly investors whose goal was to protect retirement savings."