LPL Broker Reniero Francisco Plead Guilty to Fraud

Have you suffered losses on investments made through former broker Reniero Francisco, the president of Arista, LLC? If so, The White Law Group may be able to help you recover your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration claim against the brokerage firm that employed him. 

According to a press release from the United States Attorney Office for the Southern District of New York, Francisco was sentenced in federal court to 97 months imprisonment for his role in defrauding Arista investors. Arista was apparently an investment firm launched in 2010 and registered with the Commodity futures Trading Commission (CTFC) as a Commodity Pool Operator.

According to the press release, the multimillion dollar fraud scheme wasallegedly carried out in three ways. First, Francisco purportedlymisrepresented the nature of the investments Arista offered and the types of returns investor would receive. Second, fraudulent account statements were allegedly created for investors. Finally, millions of Artesia investor’s funds were supposedly misappropriated through unentitled fees and funds diverted for personal use.

Furthermore, according to the CTCF, the Court Order in a related proceedings against Arista and Arista’s principles, including Francisco, found that from February 2010 through January 2012, the defendants collected more than $9.5 million from dozens of investors. The defendants allegedly paid themselves $4.125 million in purported fees and approximately $8.8 million was lost trading in futures and options.

The Order requires the defendants to pay more than $8.25 million in restitution and imposed a civil monetary penalty of $5.925 million on Francisco. It is unclear at this time, though if the defendants have the funds to repay investors. As such, The White Law Group is investigating other potential avenues of recovery for investors.