SEC Charges Broker with Defrauding Elderly Customers of $1 Million

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Connecticut-based broker and investment adviser Leon Vaccarelli and his company with fraudulently persuading several elderly customers to invest with him and then spending their money on his own living and business expenses.

The SEC alleges that between 2012 and 2017, Vaccarelli defrauded at least nine mostly elderly clients of more than $1 million, and the agency is seeking an asset freeze against him and his firm, Lux Financial Services. Vaccarelli was previously affiliated with the Investment Center, an independent broker-dealer, and was discharged in July for failing “to comply with company policy regarding access to his office and computer during an examination.”

The SEC’s complaint alleges that Vaccarelli deposited customer funds into his personal and business bank accounts instead of investing the customers’ money in such things as conventional brokerage accounts and separately managed accounts, as promised. He allegedly commingled the funds with his own money and used them for his own purposes, and in some instances, he used customer funds to pay returns to earlier investors.

The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, penalties, and permanent injunctive relief.

Click here to visit The DI Wire directory page.