ACWORTH — An Acworth woman has been arrested on suspicion of taking more than $677,000 from victims in a fake investment scheme, according to a warrant for her arrest.

Betty Yeakey, 52, was arrested May 9 and charged with seven counts of theft by deception.

According to her warrant, Yeakey, of Acworth, convinced victims to invest money into an Ahold/Schwab investment account that apparently did not exist.

“(Yeakey) did convince the victim to invest $100,000 into (her) Ahold/Schwab investment account, said account never existed and (Yeakey) has never returned money,” the warrant said.

The money was allegedly taken from six victims from 2005 to 2009, the warrant says. Cobb Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Nancy Bodiford said most of Yeakey’s alleged victims were family members or close friends. The case was opened in September 2010, Bodiford said.

The warrant said Yeakey was working from 4400 Wade Green Road in Kennesaw, a Bank of America branch. However, the branch manager at the bank said no one by the name of Betty Yeakey has worked there to her knowledge.

Yeakey is being held at Cobb Jail without bond, according to jail records.

She will appear in Magistrate Court for a probable cause hearing on May 25, Bodiford said.

Certified financial planner Karen Rinehart of G.W. Henssler & Associates, Ltd. in Kennesaw said she hasn’t heard of many cases like the one involving Yeakey. But Rinehart said she advises people to do their homework before working with anyone to invest their money.

Rinehart suggests using the website adviserinfo.sec.gov for information on any financial professional.

“You can put in anybody’s name in and (the website) will tell you about this person and what their qualifications are,” she said. “There are certain tests that you have to pass in the state of Georgia, and it will tell you if they’ve passed those tests and it will also tell you if any complaints have been filed against that person and where the complaints are. We tell people that would be the best way to look into the person you’re dealing with.”

Rinehart urges people to use a professional who is certified in financial planning as a certified financial planner or a chartered financial analyst.

“If somebody that I was very close to told me they were going to use someone, I would want to make sure that person had those initials behind their names,” Rinehart said.