Edina financial adviser admits stealing $1.6M to buy 6 homes in the city

The owner and operator of an Edina-based financial adviser and real estate investments firm has admitted to cheating investors out of $1.6 million and using the money to buy property in the city.

Kristi Margaret Berge, 47, founder and CEO of Keep Safe Investments, LLC, or KSI Financial, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to wire fraud in connection with the scheme that ran from mid-2020 to early 2023.

The agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Berge points out that federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term ranging from slightly more than three years to nearly four years, along with being required to make restitution in full to her victims.

However, federal judges have discretion when sentencing defendants and are not bound by the guidelines calculation. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.

According to Berge’s plea agreement and other court documents:

Starting in June 2020 and continuing until February 2023, she stole roughly $1.6 million from client accounts, including retirement investments maintained by a company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Berge withdrew amounts ranging from $5,000 to $220,000 without the Texas company’s knowledge and moved them to a KSI bank account. She used the money to buy properties in Edina for her real estate business J&K Connect, which bought, renovated and resold properties.

Berge disguised her thefts by labeling the withdrawals as payments for management or administrative fees and created false authorization records.

The plea deal directed Berge to forfeit six properties in Edina: three condominiums in two buildings in the 7300 block of S. York Avenue and homes in the 5200 block of Danens Drive, the 6300 block of Josephine Avenue and the 6400 block of Wilryan Drive. She also used the money to buy one of the homes in the city for a family member.

The combined value of the residences is more than $1.7 million, according to Hennepin County property records.