Prosecutors announced the indictment of a barred New York investment broker accused of stealing from clients in a stock fraud scheme, reports InsuranceNews Net.
57-year-old Peter Quartararo of Glen Cove, Long Island was arraigned earlier this month on five counts of second-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud.
The alleged scheme began in July 2018 and continued through January 2021. According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Quartararo met with six victims and told them that he had access to “pre-IPO” or pre-initial public offering stock in the companies Peloton, WeWork, Airbnb, and Petco for about $2 a share. Each client then gave him between $14,000 and $202,000 to buy the shares.
Quartararo told the investors that when the companies went public he would sell the shares and they would get the profits. But investigators found that he never bought any shares in the pre-IPO companies and instead deposited the clients’ money into accounts controlled by his father, his business partner and another individual.
Peter Quartararo then allegedly used that money to buy food, travel, and vehicles, including a 2020 Mercedes Benz SUV. He is charged with stealing a total of over $520,000 from the six investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that Quartararo never bought any shares of IPO stock in Peloton, WeWork, Airbnb or Petco.
“This defendant allegedly tricked investors into believing they were getting in on the ground floor of high-profile companies that were going public,” Donnelly said. “Instead, investors lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds that the defendant allegedly then used on luxury purchases, including a sports car.”
Quartararo pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on his own recognizance. If convicted on the top charge, he faces up to 15 years in prison. He was previously barred from operating as a stockbroker in March 2013 by FINRA.
The attorneys at Hyman Cotter PC are uniquely qualified to represent individual investors in investment-related claims against financial professionals and their firms. We understand how financial professionals and their firms are supposed to operate through decades of experience working for the SEC and firms like Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services. While in private practice, we have represented individual clients and firms in investment loss matters. If you have suffered investment losses as a result of misconduct by your financial professional or their firms, contact Hyman Cotter PC at 312-291-4600 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
