Broker Sung Moo Cho Barred After Misappropriating $3.5M

Sung Moo Cho (CRD# 5015906; aka, “Sam Cho Mr,” “Sam Cho,”) Is a former registered broker and investment advisor last employed by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CRD#:7059) of New York, NY. His previous employers include Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (CRD#:6363) of Hauppauge, NY, Mutual Of America Life Insurance Company (CRD#:15356) and Joseph Stone Capital, L.L.C. (CRD#:159744), also of New York, NY. He has been in the industry since 2006.

Citigroup discharged Cho on April 14th, 2026, under allegations he utilized a customer’s personally identifiable information and forged a signature to create a falsified “non-firm generated” statement. These statements were used to misappropriate $3.5M of a customer’s investment funds. Cho engaged in these activities while employed with both Citigroup and Ameriprise.

Following a customer complaint regarding Cho’s forging of their signature and misappropriation of $3.5 million from their brokerage account, FINRA initiated an investigation into Cho’s business practices.

Cho also refused to cooperate with FINRA’s investigation into these activities. FINRA sent Cho two letters requesting information which he declined to send. In an email from Cho’s legal counsel, he stated that he would not provide any of the requested information at any time. Because Cho refused to provide this information, FINRA permanently barred him from all association with any FINRA broker dealer, effective June 26, 2026. Cho agreed to the bar and signed the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) without admitting or denying the findings.

A previous customer dispute filed on 11/10/2009 alleges that Cho mismanaged an account. The customer requests damages of $10,343.47, and the claim was settled for $153.00.

How Do You Know If A Statement Is Legitimate?

Most brokerage clients have no reason to suspect that their statements are anything less than legitimate. FINRA has specific rules about customer statements. If you have questions, your broker should be able to answer them easily.

Should you ever wonder about one or more account statements, there are ways to verify their legitimacy or find out if they aren’t. Asking your broker might not work. If they are doing something wrong, they will probably not answer any questions truthfully.

Instead, bypass your broker and contact the brokerage directly. Go to the brokerage’s website and log into their customer portal. From there, you should be able to access all your statements and activity for your accounts. Download the ones you want to examine closely.

You can also contact the clearing firm that handles the brokerage’s transactions. Use the phone verified phone number on FINRA’s BrokerCheck database and ask them to verify your recent transactions and account balances.

The document itself may also have discrepancies that show alteration. Math errors, inconsistent formatting, such as font differences, blurry logos, or misaligned decimal points indicate an altered page. If you receive a PDF document that says it’s from a bank or brokerage, examine the metadata closely for print like “Produced by Microsoft Word,” or has a “modified date” that’s different than the creation date, it’s very likely to be falsified.

Cross-check your statement against the physical or emailed trade confirmations you received right after a purchase or sale. Then verify your trades by ensuring that the securities are genuine and not forged or fabricated.

Did You Invest With Sung Moo Cho? 

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis, meaning that you won’t owe us until we recover your money for you. Contact us today at (800) 975-4345 and let us know how we can help.