SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lawyers with Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm) are continuing to represent Puerto Rican investors seeking to recover losses from UBS Financial Services, Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR). After pleading guilty in November 2018 to one count of bank fraud, José Gabriel Ramírez-Arone, Jr. – a former “top-selling broker” for UBS-PR and also known on the island by many as “The Whopper” – was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Ramírez’s sentencing was due to his admitted role “in a scheme in which various of his clients at UBS-PR fraudulently obtained non-purpose credit lines” and were encouraged to misuse those credit lines, resulting in commissions in excess of $1.2 million for Ramírez. To date, Ramírez is the only person connected to the UBS-PR closed-end bond fund scheme to receive any jail time for their participation. Up to less than a week ago, Ramírez had stayed silent about the involvement of any other UBS employees in the closed-end fund scheme. Ramírez broke that silence on March 23, 2019 alleging in his sentencing memorandum the following individuals “were either involved in, had knowledge of, or encouraged the transactions of the scheme”:
- Doel García, UBS executive
- Ramiro Colón, Ramírez’s former supervisor
- Carlos Ubiñas, Chairman and President of UBS-PR
- David Lugo, former UBS broker
- Fernando Castillo, current UBS broker
- Leslie Highley, UBS Closed-end Fund Manager
- Luis Sánchez, former UBS broker
UBS terminated Ramírez in January 2014 and he was permanently barred from the securities industry in August 2015 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as a result of multiple investigations into allegations of his illicit activity and misconduct by regulators and the FBI. The SEC currently has outstanding civil charges against Ramírez.
If you were a client of José Gabriel Ramírez-Arone, Jr., his associates, or UBS-PR and suffered losses, please contact the law firm of Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas, LLP today for a free, confidential evaluation of your account(s). We have a team of attorneys, consultants, and staff with over 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law that are ready to assist you in recovering your investment losses today.
Contact: 800-259-9010
Sam Edwards: sedwards@sseklaw.com
Ryan Cook: rcook@sseklaw.com