SEC Charges Former New Jersey Broker with Misappropriation of Client Funds

INVESTORS: The SEC charged a former New Jersey broker and investment adviser with misappropriating at least $680,000 from clients.

On March 14, 2022, the SEC charged former New Jersey broker and investment adviser, Mario Rivero Jr., with misappropriating at least $680,000 from advisory clients and brokerage customers, some of whom were elderly or suffering from memory loss.

The SEC alleged that between July 2018 and November 2020, Rivero reportedly convinced at least five of his clients to transfer funds from their investment accounts to their personal bank accounts and then to entities that Rivero was secretly associated with. Rivero allegedly misrepresented to the customers that the purpose of the transfers was to make investments on their behalf. However, Rivero actually siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from those entities that received the investor’s funds and used them for his own benefit.

The SEC alleged that Rivero violated the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Rivero was also charged criminally in a parallel action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

If you have any information about Mario Rivero Jr. that you would like to share or discuss, please call our firm for a confidential consultation. We represent investors in claims against negligent brokers and brokerage firms. If you or your loved one experienced investment losses, we are here to help. For a free consultation, please call us now at 866-827-3202 or complete our contact form.