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Rockland County resident Jorge Padilla, 33, of Haverstraw, pleaded guilty in district court to defrauding his victims out of more than $900,000 by soliciting investments in a sham financial firm by using misrepresentation and fraudulent documents.
Specifically, Padilla pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. When he is sentenced, he will face up to 20 years in prison.
Berman said that between September 2014 and April 2017, Padilla, a financial professional registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, orchestrated a scheme to solicit investments in a sham family investment office, Dunatos Capital, targeting Argentina-based victims.
To coerce investors, Padilla alleged that Donates Capital was a family office managing tens of million dollars worth of investments.
To solicit investments in his faux firm, Padilla made false representations that his firm was regulated by U.S. financial regulators and was operating out of a Manhattan office that didn’t exist.
According to Berman, once his victims transferred funds to him, Padilla sent fraudulent statements about how the funds were invested, ultimately stealing more than $900,000.
“As he admitted today, Jorge Padilla fleeced investors through lies and deception. He lied about the very existence of the company through which he solicited investors, and he sent investors fraudulent statements to prop up the scheme,” Berman said. “Padilla now awaits sentencing for his crime.”
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