A Hingham man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with defrauding neighbors and other acquaintances by agreeing to invest their money which he then stole for his own use or to pay off earlier investors.

Stephen S. Eubanks pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after being charged and arrested in November 2016. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11, 2017.

Eubanks opened Eubiquity Capital LLC in February 2010, a hedge fund that by 2016 took in approximately $529,000 in investor funds. Eubanks was previously a registered broker with several large brokerage firms, but was terminated after customer complaints and other disciplinary issues. Eubanks falsely represented to two acquaintances that he was a registered financial advisor running a hedge fund affiliated with Goldman Sachs, TD Ameritrade, UBS Bank and Fidelity Investments in 2013 and 2014. One of the acquaintances invested $125,000 with Eubanks, while the other invested $20,000. A third person, living in Florida, invested $50,000 with Eubanks in 2013.

Eubanks invested some of his clients’ funds, but used a significant portion for personal expenses. Eubanks fabricated account statements or used account statements from unrelated accounts to deceive his clients into believing that their money had earned a healthy return. In some cases, Eubanks ran the fund as a Ponzi scheme, using money deposited with him by newer investors to pay returns to earlier investors. Eubanks defrauded 32 people of approximately $435,000.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.