On January 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged German Nino, a former securities broker and investment adviser representative for UBS Financial Services Inc., with stealing $5.8 million from a long-standing client.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Nino, of Weston, Florida, stole the investment funds from his client's accounts over nearly a six-year period and used the majority of the money, $4.2 million, on gifts for several women with whom he had romantic relationships. Nino allegedly employed various methods to conceal his misconduct from his client, including creating fake account statements, forging signatures on letters of authorization, and altering UBS's records for an affected account to prevent electronic notifications of wire transfers.

In addition to spending the money on vacations, luxury cars, and private school tuition for his romantic partners, Nino also allegedly used the remaining $1.6 million to repay funds he had taken from another client.

The SEC's complaint charges Nino with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced criminal charges against Nino.

The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Sagiv Edelman, and supervised by Jessica M. Weissman and Glenn S. Gordon, all of the Miami Regional Office. The litigation is being conducted by Andrew O. Schiff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.