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A former financial adviser who stole about $1.7 million from elderly clients for his personal use faces up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty.

Murray McClune admitted two charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, following an investigation by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).

McClune, who had worked in the insurance industry since the late 1960s, also offered investment opportunities to some of his clients, primarily through his business Insurance Plus Limited.

Between 2016 and 2022, McClune procured about $1.7m from two sets of elderly clients on the basis that he would invest the funds on their behalf.

Instead, McClune used some of the money for his own personal purposes, using falsified statements to give the impression that their money remained invested and to conceal his unauthorised dealings.

McClune’s offending was detected when he was unable to repay his clients on demand.

Margot Gatland, FMA’s head of enforcement, said McClune’s offending was devastating to his victims.

“McClune dealt with the funds of elderly, vulnerable investors with whom he had a close personal relationship and took advantage of those relationships to misappropriate their funds,” Gatland said.

“In addition to being devastating to the victims, offending of this nature undermines public confidence in registered advisers and harms their reputations.”

McClune was due to stand trial in July before deciding to plead guilty.

McClune was registered on the Financial Service Providers Register as an insurance broker until November 2016 and was a registered financial adviser until April 2022.

According to the Companies Office, the Registrar of Companies has initiated action to remove Insurance Plus Limited from the register.

McClune is the sole director and shareholder of the business.