Greene County woman sentenced on grand theft charges

The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities announced that Beverly A. Kirk, a Greene County resident, has been sentenced to at least five years of supervised probation. Her recent sentencing in Greene County Court of Common Pleas follows Kirk’s guilty plea to two counts of grand theft, both fourth-degree felonies, and one count of misrepresentations in the sale of securities, a third-degree felony. 

According to a 2024 indictment, from 2019 to 2021, Kirk allegedly solicited three insurance clients, one of them who is elderly, to invest at least $235,000 in various investments, including nonexistent jumbo CDs and investments that were misrepresented as being issued by an insurance underwriter. The indictment also alleged that Kirk misappropriated the investments for her own personal use.

In addition to probation, Kirk was ordered to pay $195,000 in restitution to two of the victims in the case. She paid $50,000 toward that restitution at the plea hearing and must pay at least $100 per month in restitution toward the remaining balance.

Before investing, the Division always encourages potential investors to call its Investor Protection Hotline at 877-683-7841 to ask the following questions:

• Is the securities professional, platform or firm properly licensed to do business in Ohio?

• Is the security being promoted by the firm, platform or the professional registered for sale in Ohio?

• Are there any enforcement actions involving the firm, professional, platform or securities product being promoted?

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