Barred Long Island Broker Charged in Pre-IPO Share Scam

Quartararo was barred from associating with any FINRA-registered firm on Sept. 25, 2012, effective March 21, 2013, according to BrokerCheck. He "willfully violated" the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and FINRA rules by allegedly defrauding clients and then declined to cooperate with FINRA's investigation, the regulator alleged.

Pre-IPO Shares

Starting in July 2019, Quartararo met with four victims and told them he had access to "pre-IPO" or pre-initial public offering stock in the companies Peloton, WeWork, and/or Airbnb for about $2 a share, according to Singas. Quartararo told them that when the companies later went public, he would sell the shares and give the profits to the victims, less capital gains taxes, the DA alleged.

Each victim gave Quartararo between $72,000 and $200,000 in checks with the understanding that the funds would be used to buy the pre-IPO shares. Instead, an investigation revealed the defendants never bought any shares of stock in the pre-IPO firms represented on the victims' behalf and, instead, the victims' checks were deposited into accounts controlled by Casella and Leonard Quartararo, a Staten Island, New York resident who is Peter's father.

The funds were then allegedly used by the defendants to buy food, travel and vehicles, including a 2020 Mercedes Benz SUV, and as the down payment on Peter Quartararo's Maserati car, according to Singas. Several large cash withdrawals were also made by Leonard Quartararo, she alleged.

Five court-ordered search warrants were executed in connection with the investigation, according to the DA.

The SEC confirmed that no shares of IPO stock in Peloton, WeWork, and Airbnb were ever purchased by the defendants.

The SEC's complaint named Peter Quartararo as the defendant, while Casella, Casella's Jericho, New York-based firm Private Equity Solutions, Peter's father, and Lisa Eckert, Peter's girlfriend, also a resident of Glen Cove, were all named as relief defendants.