The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Sonya Camarco. According to her publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Sonya Camarco has been the subject of multiple customer complaints connected to misappropriating customer funds.
Sonya Camarco was a Colorado based securities broker. She worked in the securities industry for twenty-three years. During her career, she was registered with three different securities firms. She is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
Her Registrations
- Merrill Lynch (1993-2000)
- Morgan Stanley (2000-2004)
- LPL Financial (2004-2017)
The Allegations
Most of the complaints filed are from customers alleging that Sonya Camarco misappropriated their funds for her own personal use. According to findings released by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sonya Camarco converted over $2 million of her elderly clients’ money to pay for her luxurious life style. She allegedly used this money to fund trips to Hawaii and New Zealand, to purchase art, horses, and high-end furnishing, and even to purchase multiple houses and vacation houses. She was terminated from her position at LPL Financial in August 2017 when the allegations came to light. In September 2017, she pled guilty to felony criminal charges of securities fraud, theft, and filing a false tax return. She was sentenced to prison for two consecutive terms of ten years each and ordered to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution to her victims. Multiple customers filed cases against Sonya Camarco’s former member firm for her alleged fund conversion. These cases have been settled for a total of $5.4 million in damages awarded to the afflicted customers.
What Does This Mean?
Converting their customers’ funds is one of the most blatant acts of fraud that a securities broker could ever commit. While some investors are very vigilante when it comes to monitoring their finances, many investors trust their securities brokers implicitly because they know they are bound by their fiduciary duty to always act in their customers’ best financial interests. Many less than scrupulous securities brokers take advantage of their customers’ trusting nature and will use that to manipulate the system. Brokers like this tend to specifically target elderly investors when perpetrating their schemes. This is because these individuals are usually more trusting and tend to rely more heavily on their securities brokers to manage their accounts. Brokers like this are self-serving criminals who deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, securities brokers being held criminally liable does not make afflicted investors whole. Sometimes, a perpetrating broker is not able to pay any, or enough, restitution to afflicted customers. When this is the case, the securities firms that employed these brokers need to be held liable for their negligence in choosing and monitoring their employees.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages. Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with Sonya Camarco, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. We work on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
