More Than $9.7 Million in Losses, 65 Victims: New Jersey College and Financial Planner Paul Beers Admits Ponzi Scheme, Sentencing Set for March 9, 2027
TRENTON, N.J. — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced that Paul Beers, a former college and financial planner, admitted running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims of more than $9.7 million over more than 10 years. U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced the guilty plea.
Beers, 67, of Clinton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton federal court to a one-count Information charging him with wire fraud. He owned and operated KJM Financial in Bedminster, Somerset County, which provided college planning and consulting and financial planning services.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, from as early as January 2015 through November 2025, Beers, operating through KJM Financial, orchestrated a Ponzi-like scheme and fraudulently accepted over $11 million from at least 65 victims, inducing them to provide cash with the promise that their funds would be invested in various financial accounts, including guaranteed income contracts.
Instead of investing the money as promised, Beers misappropriated the funds to pay his own business and personal expenses and to pay back certain victim investors to further the scheme and avoid detection. At times he created false quarterly and other reports purporting to show investment gains. In November 2025, the scheme fell apart, and victims suffered aggregate losses of more than $9.7 million.
U.S. Attorney Frazer said the defendant turned a position of trust into an instrument of fraud, misappropriating $11 million and using false quarterly reports to conceal the scheme. Stefanie Roddy, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Newark Division, said victims placed their faith in Beers to safeguard their futures, only to have him exploit that trust for personal gain.
The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross loss to the victims or gain to the defendant, whichever is greatest. The plea agreement requires Beers to make restitution to his victims. Sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2027.
The case was investigated by FBI special agents in Newark, with assistance from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and the Bedminster Township Police Department. The FBI investigation is ongoing, and anyone who believes they may be a victim of Paul Beers may report their circumstances to the FBI.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（资料图）。美国司法部官方照片，公共领域。 / The U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (file photo). U.S. Department of Justice photo, public domain.
