A former broker who spent years conning elderly investors out of their money to keep his Ponzi scheme running has agreed to settle with the SEC and is awaiting sentencing in federal court.
Earlier this month, the SEC charged 45-year-old Joseph Orazio DeGregorio in connection to a five-year, $1.2 million manipulation targeting clients between the ages of 78 and 94. Officials said DeGregorio, who was suspended by FINRA in 2017 for failing to pay an arbitration award in a dispute with one of his former brokerage firms, committed multiple violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
According to his FINRA BrokerCheck page, DeGregorio has worked for 14 firms in his 14 years in the business. During that time he has also stacked up 14 disclosures, including six customer disputes and six tax liens.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York also charged the Freehold, New Jersey, man with felony wire fraud and securities fraud. According to online court records, DeGregorio pleaded guilty to both counts and will be sentenced in June.
Court documents said DeGregorio solicited money from four investors as he ran his scheme from October 2015 to March 2021. He promised to invest his clients’ funds in two private companies called Blue Omega and Globotix Inc.
Blue Omega was presented to clients as a cybersecurity company, and Globotix was a purported financial consulting firm. DeGregorio also told his clients he would invest in a promissory…
