Eric Brown, a Newton psychologist, has agreed to plead guilty to allegedly defrauding two individuals: one of his relatives and one of his patients. He has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in an unlawful money transaction.

According to prosecutors, Brown defrauded his patient out of $600,000 and his relative out of $310,000. The U.S. Attorney recommends a sentence of 27 months of incarceration, although this will be up to the discretion of the judge.

Brown will also be expected to pay back the victims.

The patient had been hit by a drunk driver in 2017 and began seeing Brown to address her mental health issues arising from the accident. That victim was awarded $700,000 as a settlement, which was placed into a trust. She asked Brown to serve as the trustee for this trust, which he did starting in 2022.

In 2023, Brown began what he believed was an online relationship with a woman named Amy. In fact, this was a scammer who convinced Brown to invest in precious metals.

Brown also converted $25,000 of his own money into cryptocurrency and sent it to a financial technology company that Amy recommended he invest in. Amy sent him false documents that showed him his investment was profitable, and Brown became convinced of this.

Prosecutors say Brown convinced his family member to loan him $200,000 to finance improvements to an office building he owned in Newton, which they did. On Oct. 19, 2023, he wired this money to a Hong Kong bank account at Amy’s direction. On Oct. 26 of that year, he asked his patient if he could invest her trust’s principal in a way that would lead to better returns, without telling her any of the details. She said yes, and Brown told the advisor of the trust that he was withdrawing $600,000 on her behalf so that she could buy a home.

The trust advisor, who was one of Brown’s relatives, sent the $600,000 to Brown’s personal bank account. He wired this to Hong Kong. In December, he sent $305,000 of his own money to another Hong Kong bank account.

In January 2024, Brown attempted two times, unsuccessfully, to withdraw $250,000 from what he thought was his investment account. He asked his relative for another $110,000 for building improvements, again without providing any additional details.

In February, he tried again unsuccessfully to withdraw $200,000.

Later that February, he asked another family member for a loan of $150,000. Brown told this relative that he was consolidating his debt into one loan, that he needed money to pay the Internal Revenue Service after prematurely cashing a retirement plan, and that he would obtain a home equity loan to pay the relative back. This person, however, said no.

A formal plea hearing will be scheduled for a future date.