Mario Rivero: Ex-LPL Advisor Stole From Clients

Former Red Bank, New Jersey financial advisor Mario Rivero (CRD# 5856503) pleaded guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud in connection with allegations that he misappropriated his clients’ funds. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he was previously registered as a broker with LPL Financial, doing business as Gladstone Advisors.

Mr. Rivero’s BrokerCheck report discloses the 2022 and 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission actions against him. As they describes, the SEC filed a complaint alleging that he “convinced at least five of his clients and customers to transfer funds from their accounts to entities with which Rivero was associated.” It alleged further that he “falsely told his victims that the purpose of these fund transfers was so that he could make various investments on their behalf including, in some instances, investments in the stock market,” when in reality he “siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from the entities that received the investor funds for his own benefit.” Some of these customers, according to the SEC, were “over eighty years old and/or disabled.” In connection with these findings, the SEC barred him from associating with any broker, dealer, or investment adviser. It also ordered him to pay disgorgement of $488,978.

A press release issued in August 2023 by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey describes Mr. Rivero’s guilty plea to one count of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud in connection with allegations that he “stole over $600,000 from his clients to fund his gambling and personal expenses.” He was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release, it explains further. “From April 2018 through November 2020, Rivero, while serving in his capacity as an investment advisor employed by a large brokerage firm, misappropriated $626,478 from five clients,” it states of the charges against him. “Rivero, who had been entrusted to manage client funds responsibly, instead perpetrated a scheme to defraud multiple clients. He obtained his clients’ money under the fraudulent pretense that he would invest the funds, but instead, Rivero unlawfully diverted the funds to enrich himself and others.”

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Mario Rivero holds 10 years of securities industry experience. Previously based in Red Bank, New Jersey, he was registered as a broker with LPL Financial from 2020 until 2021. He was previously registered with Wells Fargo in Elizabeth, New Jersey from 2010 until 2020. His credentials include the passage of five securities industry qualifying exams: the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. He is not licensed as a broker. (Information current as of July 8, 2024.)

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