A former financial advisor for UBS Financial Services Inc. has been charged with defrauding a client out of $5.8 million in investment funds, AdvisorNews reports.
German Nino of Weston, Florida was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a complaint filed Jan. 21 in U.S. District Court in Miami. According to the SEC, Nino stole the funds from a long-standing client over May 2014 to February 2020. He allegedly used $4.2 million of the funds to purchase gifts for several women with whom he had romantic relationships, including luxury cars, private school tuition, and vacations. He is accused of using the remaining $1.6 million to repay money he took from another client.
As part of the alleged scheme, the SEC said Nino created fake account statements, forged signatures on letters of authorization, and altered UBS’s records to prevent electronic notifications of wire transfers. Authorities said he made a total of 62 unauthorized transfers from three UBS accounts belonging to the victims.
“As a financial advisor, Nino was entrusted with millions of dollars belonging to his client,” said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. “As alleged in our complaint, Nino took advantage of that trust by abusing his access to his client’s accounts for personal gain.”
Nino was charged with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Nino is also facing criminal charges that were filed in a parallel action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. He made an initial appearance last week in federal magistrate court in Miami.
The financial advisor misconduct attorneys at Lewitas Hyman are uniquely qualified to represent individual investors in investment-related claims against financial professionals and their firms. If you have suffered investment losses as a result of misconduct by your financial professional or their firms, contact us at (888) 655 6002 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
