Financial adviser received $1.5 million to steer clients to invest in friend’s business

Authorities revoked the registration of a financial adviser from New Jersey who pocketed about $1.5 million when he steered two clients to invest their money with a CEO friend of his banned from the securities industry.

Carlos Leston convinced the clients — one of whom was in her late 80s — to buy a total of $3.65 million in high-risk securities in a New York lending company, the state Office of the Attorney General said Tuesday.

The two clients liquidated the existing insurance annuities on which they use to cover living expenses and ended up losing a substantial amount of money, an amount that exceeded the benefits of purchasing the securities.