A financial advisor pleaded no contest this morning to charges that he stole more than $38,000 from two elderly former clients.

The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs filed a criminal complaint in state Circuit Court last week charging Scott Akashi, 31, with 11 counts of second-degree theft.

Akashi waived indictment this morning and pleaded no contest to all 11 counts.

The state says Akashi stole $38,773 in January, February and March last year from the former clients who were 88 and 90 years old. He promised them higher returns on their investments and even drove them to the bank to get their money. Instead of investing the money, the state says Akashi pocketed it for his own use.

The state said it got word of what was going on after a relative of one of the victims noticed that her grandmother had a new checking account from which she wrote checks to Akashi.

Akashi had been working for a financial services company until he was fired in December. That was also when he relinquished his state licenses to sell securities and insurance.

Since 2008 he was also operating his own company, Scott Akashi, LLC.