An ex-UBS broker has pleaded guilty to defrauding a family out of $5.8 million, most of which he spent on gifts for girlfriends, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The gifts included private school tuition, luxury cars and an apartment in Colombia, according to the SEC.
German Nino of Weston, Florida, was charged by both the Justice Department and SEC in January with defrauding a family with several accounts at the wirehouse. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to court documents and the Justice Department.
Nino is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21, before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham in Miami. He faces up to 60 years in prison, according to an announcement on Thursday by Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, special agent in charge, FBI Miami. Nino was 56 when charged in January, so he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
UBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about Nino's guilty plea.
In January, a UBS spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor: "Ensuring the safety of assets our customers entrust to us is always paramount. UBS has compensated the affected customers for any losses from their UBS accounts."
Nino was registered as a broker with UBS from July 2012 until August 2020, according to his report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck website.
He resigned from UBS after a client alleged Nino stole money from him from Feb. 23, 2018, to July 13, 2020, according to a disclosure on his report. The client requested $2 million from UBS but, in a settlement, received the full $5.8 million that was cited in the SEC and DOJ actions.
More Plea Details
The plea was part of a deal with the Justice Department in which Nino agreed to plead guilty to three counts of wire fraud in exchange for the dismissal of five other counts.
