‘Endangering the welfare of children for the distribution of child pornography in the second degree’ and ‘endangering the welfare of children for the possession of child pornography in the third degree’ are the two charges levied against Nicholas Spagnoletti, a financial advisor with the Wealth Enhancement Group (WEG).
Private equity-backed hybrid RIA WEG inherited Spagnoletti as a result of its acquisition of Macro Consulting Group based in Parsippany. At the time of acquisition, Macro managed over $900 million in customer assets.
Nicholas Spagnoletti Case details
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Investigators were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and were able to trace the IP address to Spagnoletti’s cell phone, his home in Madison as well as his office after securing a report from Kik according to which five files had been uploaded by a user on the platform that contained child pornography.
‘Images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation and/or abuse of a minor,’ were found on his phone, according to court documents in Morris County, New Jersey. Further, between April 15 and Aug. 12, he used ‘his personal cell phone to upload, possess and distribute images of child pornography,’ according to their statement about the case. This was apparently done through the Messenger App Kik.
The warrant states that “A search of this device revealed the Kik account in question present on the device with messages being sent to and from this account. A post-Miranda interview of the defendant revealed that he was the sole user of the said Kik account and that he had personally viewed child sexual exploitation materials on Kik in the past. Defendant acknowledged that these materials were ‘wrong.’”
Nicholas Spagnoletti’s history as an advisor
52 years old Nicholas Spagnoletti, has been associated with the industry for 28 years. According to his BrokerCheck report, he has earlier been associated with Prudential, 1717 Capital Management, Capital Analysts, Comprehensive Asset Management and Servicing and SII Investments.
He joined LPL on the 1st of July on account of they being the broker-dealer for WEG, followed by WEG on the 2nd. WEG founder Mark Cortazzo decided in 2018 to shift allegiance to Mutual Securities as the firm’s broker-dealer.
Response of Wealth Enhancement Group (WEG)
After Citywire, the wealth management news publisher had reported the announcement of Spagnoletti’s arrest by Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll, Chief of Detectives Christoph Kimker, and Acting Chief John Miscia of the Madison Borough Police Department, WEG clarified that he no longer worked for the firm, but declined to comment further. Their spokesperson Chris Clemens, in an emailed response, said, “We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities. We expect our professionals to hold themselves to the highest possible ethical and legal standards, and as such, we have terminated this advisor. Until more information from the legal process is established, it would be inappropriate for us to provide further public comment.”
Further developments
Spagnoletti was arrested on the 12th of August and spent the evening in the Morris County Correctional Facility, as confirmed by authorities. As per the Morristown Superior Courthouse clerk’s office, after his arraignment, he was released on Aug. 13 without entering a plea.
People with information that may shed more light on the case have been requested to come forward and share the same with Detective Thomas Laird of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6245.
Emails to Spagnoletti’s account at Macro have remained unanswered. Contact details of an attorney who could respond on his behalf are also not available.
