Legend Securities Stockbroker Receives Complaint for Fraud
FINRA has filed a complaint against Richard Gomez of Jackson Heights, New York for allegedly defrauding investors of close to half a million dollars. Gomez, who was a registered representative with Legend Securities Inc. between June and December 2011, allegedly offered investors the opportunity to purchase membership interests in Praetorian Global Fund, Ltd. (Praetorian) and its affiliate companies. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Praetorian Global Fund was supposed to grant investors an opportunity to invest in a pre-initial public offering (IPO) with shares of Facebook, Groupon and Zynga. Gomez allegedly sold $394,000 worth of shares of the fraudulent company and made at least $22,000 in commissions. Gomez allegedly failed to conduct proper due diligence and missed multiple red flags regarding Praetorian. The “principal place of business” for Praetorian was a residential apartment in Boca Raton, Florida but the mailing address was that of “The UPS Store” in Boca Raton. In addition, Praetorian’s fund manager had a lengthy criminal record that included multiple convictions of grand theft, and other members affiliated with the company have been named defendants in multiple lawsuits alleging fraudulent business practices.
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