Unregistered Florida-Based Broker Charged with Securities Fraud

The SEC has charged Albert Scipione with securities fraud allegedly involving stealing investor money in a day trading scam. Scipione, who is an unregistered broker, has already pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a parallel case.

According to the SEC, Scipione and Matthew P. Ionno pursued investors to set up accounts at their Traders Café for day trading. This involved the swift selling and buying of stocks during the day to see if stock values will rise or fall while the stock is owned so a quick profit can be made. Traders Café, which belonged to two men, was never registered with the Commission as a brokerage firm.

Scipione purportedly pushed the company’s trading platform while making bogus misrepresentations to investors about high trading leverage, fees, commissions, and their assets’ safety. The regulator says that Scipione and Ionno raised over $500,000. Investors were told that their money would be only used for day trading or certain other specified uses. Instead, a lot of customers found that they couldn’t trade at all.

Scipione and Ionno took almost all of the investors’ funds for their own spending. They are accused of trying to conceal their day trading scam by making up delays and excuses for why they couldn’t get their money refunded. The SEC wants disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, penalties, and other relief.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP our broker fraud lawyers are here to help investors get back their losses.

Read the SEC Complaint (PDF)

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