Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Perry Santillo (Santillo), previously associated with Questar Capital Corporation, has at least one disclosable event. These events include one regulatory, alleging that Santillo recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on August 28, 2024.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Perry Santillo (‘Respondent’ or ‘Santillo’). In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement (the ‘Offer’) which the Commission has determined to accept. The commission finds that it’s complaint alleged that, from at least 2011 to 2017, Santillo participated in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of investors. Santillo and another individual bought or took over books of business of retiring investment professionals from around the country. Then Santillo or others persuaded these newly acquired clients to withdraw their savings from traditional investments and invest their savings in issuers controlled by Santillo or his associates. Although these issuers purported to conduct legitimate business, their operations were apparently limited or non-existent. Santillo offered and sold securities in these issuers to a number of investors and also provided investment advice to those same investors and to potential investors. Santillo told investors that their funds would be invested in the issuers, but instead, among other things, Santillo, along with others involved in the scheme, enriched himself by misappropriating investor funds. On October 2, 2019, Respondent pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in violation of Title 18 United States Code Sections 1349, one count of mail fraud in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 1341, and one count of conspiracy to launder money in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 1956(h) before the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, in United States v. Perry Santillo et al., 6:19-CR6135. On January 28, 2022, a judgment in the criminal case was entered against Santillo. He was sentenced to a prison term of 210 months followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $102,952,582.77, of which $18,683,251 was jointly and severally owed with one co-defendant, and an unidentified amount was jointly and severally owed with a second co-defendant.
