In 2016, the Justice Department charged Anthony Diaz with fraudulent sales of illiquid alternative investments, namely nontraded real estate investment trusts and variable annuities.
On Monday, when Mr. Diaz took the stand in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to testify in his defense, he denied criminal intent and blamed paperwork for any errors, according to a report by the Associate Press.
Mr. Diaz, who is facing wire and mail fraud charges, said that the investments were approved by the broker-dealers he worked with and that he explained the risks to his clients, according to the AP report.
"There's no scheme to try to hurt people," he said, according to the AP. "I'm terrible at paperwork. That's been my plague through my whole career."
Mr. Diaz's attorney, Darren Gelber, did not return a call on Wednesday to comment.
"These alternative investment products have specific ‘suitability requirements’ related to net worth, liquid net worth and/or income," according to the federal indictment from 2016. "To effectuate sales of these alternative investment products in compliance with these suitability requirements, and in furtherance of his scheme to defraud, [Mr.] Diaz instructed clients to sign blank documents or partially completed documents."
"[Mr.] Diaz then provided false information on these documents concerning his clients’ net worth, income, risk tolerance and/or investment experience in order to make it appear that these clients met the net worth and/or income requirements to invest in these products,” the indictment claims.
According to his BrokerCheck profile, Mr. Diaz was barred from the securities industry in 2015 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.
His practice included the sale of other high-commission products, according to Finra's complaint. From March 2010 through May 2011, he “induced approximately 80 customers to enter into variable annuity exchanges, often subject to significant surrender charges, without a reasonable basis for recommending those exchanges,” Finra alleged.
From February 2007 through February 2010, Mr. Diaz “falsely told” seven clients that investments in REITs were either “guaranteed or guaranteed to pay certain amounts of interest,” according to the Finra complaint.
His BrokerCheck profile is 104 pages long and shows 62 disclosure events, both unusually high numbers. Mr. Diaz worked in the securities industry from 2000 to 2015 at 11 firms, the last of which was IBN Financial Services Inc. He was "discharged," or fired, from four of them.
According to the AP report, Mr. Diaz testified that he initially wanted to fight Finra's allegations but settled the matter after listening to his parents' advice.
"I should've fought it," he told jurors. "I think if I would've fought the accusations that I might not be here today ... I had all my ducks in a row.”
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