South Florida Broker Giovanni Acevedo Accused of Converting Funds and Providing False Information to FINRA

Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. discharges Acevedo and FINRA permanently bars him as a result of alleged misconduct

Not only is former ING Financial Partners, Inc (now known as Voya Financial Advisors, Inc.) broker Giovanni Acevedo accused of converting over $160,000 in customer funds for his own personal use, he is also accused of lying to FINRA investigators when questioned about the related customer complaints.

According to FINRA, Acevedo made recommendations to three separate customers and took actions as follows:

In his first complaint, it is alleged that Acevedo recommended that his client write a check to ACI Capital Investment from her personal account. He represented that he would invest the funds per the customer’s instructions. Acevedo allegedly then altered the payee line of the check to read “ACE Capital Investment” by changing the “I” to an “E”. Then he endorsed the check as “For Deposit Only – Ace Capital Investments LLC,” the name of his limited liability company.

Following this transgression, Acevedo then allegedly provided the customer with a fake account statement on letterhead appearing to be from “ACI Capital Investments.” Instead of investing the funds on behalf of the customer, it is alleged that Acevedo instead converted the funds for his own beneficial use.

Acevedo also instructed the client to provide him with additional signed checks from her personal account, leaving blank the name of the payee or the dollar amount, indicating that he did not as of yet know the name of the fund or amount to be invested. As a result, the customer gave him 21 signed checks that Acevedo then filled in with his name or the name of his LLC and the dollar amounts of which he converted to his own personal use. In total, between January 2009 and March 2013, he converted $145,848.42 from the customer.

The second customer complaint alleges that between February 2012 and August 2013, Acevedo instructed the customer to send him funds from his checking account made out to either “Giovanni Acevedo” or “Ace Advisory Group” and advised that he would invest these funds on the customer’s behalf. The customer followed his instructions and sent five checks totaling $12,000 and Acevedo, instead of investing on his customer’s behalf, converted all of the funds for his own benefit.

The third customer fell victim to Acevedo in March 2014 when he recommended that she invest $5,000 in a security that he claimed was being underwritten by Voya, with Acevedo as the financial advisor. After careful manipulation of the process, Acevedo instructed the customer to write a check in the amount of $5,000 leaving the payee line blank and he then cashed the check after completing the payee line to read “Giovanni Acevedo.”

Ultimately, Acevedo allegedly converted funds from these customers, using them for his own personal benefit, totaling $162,848.42.

As a result of these customer complaints of broker misconduct, FINRA performed an extensive investigation into Acevedo’s practice. According to FINRA, it is believed that Acevedo knowingly and repeatedly provided false information and violated FINRA Rules. As of February 2016, Giovanni Acevedo is permanently barred from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity.

If you are working with or have worked with a financial advisor that you suspect may have been involved in unethical behavior, or have lost money at the hands of a trusted advisor, it is recommended that you seek the services of an experienced securities attorney.

The attorneys at Silver Law Group are leaders in the field of FINRA and securities arbitration. We represent individual and institutional investors across the United States that have lost money at the hands of a trusted financial advisor. Our services are provided on a contingency-fee basis, which means we are only compensated if there is a recovery of losses. For more information, contact us for a complimentary consultation.