A New Hampshire investment advisor who lost clients’ money by putting it into risky securities has been ordered to pay $4.9 million in restitution and $1 million in costs by the state Bureau of Securities Regulation.

According to the Bureau, Thomas Chadwick of New London, formerly of the investment adviser firm Chadwick & D’Amato, mishandled money from clients, most of whom are New Hampshire and Vermont residents seeking low- to moderate-risk investments.

In a prepared statement, the Bureau wrote that Chadwick invested in “extremely risky securities product known as REML. This product was composed of exchanged-traded notes, which are unsecured debt securities that are only suitable for highly aggressive investors and in lower quantities. REML contained warnings that it was not appropriate for ‘buy and hold’ investors seeking long-term investments nor those who could not afford the risk of losing their entire investment in REML.

“At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, Chadwick concentrated significant portions of his clients’ accounts in REML. In March 2020, as the COVID pandemic emerged, the value of REML fell to nearly zero dollars and resulted in devastating losses totaling several million dollars. Dozens of Chadwick’s former clients were affected. “

Chadwick has agreed to be permanently barred from having a securities license in New Hampshire. The Bureau wrote that Chadwick has indicated that he does not have the resources to immediately pay the amounts owed, which “may result in the Bureau pursuing a separate legal action to recover the restitution.”