United Planners' Financial Services of America, a general partnership broker-dealer that has been rep-owned since 1987, in July agreed to pay $1.06 million to clients a longtime rep stole from, relying on phony account statements in his scheme, according to the Securities Division of the Arizona Corporation Commission.
United Planners' Financial Services of America, with 500 financial advisors and close to $22 billion in client assets, last month settled the matter without denying the facts or findings of the case, which focused on the former broker Philip A. Riposo, who was barred from the securities industry in 2022 after reaching a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. in a related matter.
The firm “failed to reasonably supervise its salesman, Riposo,” under Arizona law, according to the settlement. United Planners' Financial Services of America's CEO, Michael Baker, did not return a call Tuesday to comment.
According to the Arizona Corporation Commission, Riposo's scheme to steal from clients lasted decades and was only uncovered once a customer of Riposo's in March 2022 called United Planners, complaining he was having difficulty in obtaining the funds from his investment account.
That same morning, four firm employees made an unannounced visit to Riposo's home office in Cave Creek, Ariz., according to the settlement, but he would not let them in, at least at first.
"Riposo initially denied entry, claiming to be suffering from COVID," according to the Arizona Corporation Commission. "Riposo eventually allowed access to his office, but denied any wrongdoing. However, when confronted with the documents [the firm] had gathered through its investigation, Riposo admitted to taking funds from multiple customers for his personal use."
According to the settlement, Riposo eventually admitted to engaging in such activities for over 30 years, taking at least $300,000 from customers.
That initial admission was far short of the mark. In fact, Riposo "vastly understated the extent of his illegal activities," according to the settlement, and stole $4.5 million from clients, and $1.06 million while registered with United Planners' Financial Services of America. He created 24 fake account statements for clients, 17 of those at United Planners.
According to his BrokerCheck profile, Riposo started working in the securities industry in 1973 and worked with 10 firms before settling down at United Planners in 2015.
Despite earlier examinations by United Planners' Financial Services, Riposo's "fraudulent activity was not uncovered until one of Riposo’s clients filed a complaint against him," according to a statement by the Arizona Corporation Commission. "At that point the fraudulent scheme was uncovered, with Riposo admitting to engaging in the scheme for more than 30 years."
Arizona brought action against Riposo in 2023, but he passed away before any decision was concluded in the case.
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