A former financial advisor for UBS Financial Services Inc. pleaded guilty last week to defrauding over $5.8 million from a client couple who invested funds with him, according to Financial Advisor.
57-year-old German Nino of Weston, Florida, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Miami. The Securities and Exchange Commission detailed the allegations against Nino in a complaint filed in January.
The SEC said that Nino used $4.2 million of the funds he stole to purchase gifts for several women with whom he had romantic relationships, including luxury cars, private school tuition, and vacations. He was accused of using the remaining $1.6 million to repay money he took from another client.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Nino made 62 unauthorized transfers from three UBS accounts belonging to the victims from May 2014 to February 2020.
As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Nino misrepresented the clients’ investments’ performance and their account balances, forged their signatures on documents authorizing transfers out of their accounts, and removed the email of one of the victims from their UBS account profile so that the victim would not receive email notifications from UBS about unauthorized transfers.
Eventually, the couple’s son noticed discrepancies in their account balances and confronted Nino, according to the SEC.
Nino resigned from UBS in 2020 after the clients said he confessed to taking money from their accounts. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21, and faces up to 60 years in prison. He was also ordered to disgorge his ill-gotten gains and interest.
The attorneys at Lewitas Hyman understand the financial and emotional ramifications of investment losses caused by financial professionals, and we have experience dealing with a broad range of claims that rise to the level of financial advisor misconduct. 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.