A New York-based court has charged Roberto Gustavo Cortes Ripalda, Fernando Haberer Bergson and Ernesto Heraclito Weisson Pazmino with conspiring to defraud investors and financial institutions as part of an international fraud in the US, South America, and Europe.
Cortes is based in Madrid, Spain; Haberer is from Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Weisson is based in Miami, Florida.
The trio were each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
US federal agents arrested Weisson in Miami on 8 September 2021, and Cortes and Haberer were also arrested on the same day in Spain and Argentina, respectively.
Details
According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Cortes and Weisson founded financial services company Biscayne Capital in 2005.
Between approximately 2013 and 2018, Cortes, Haberer, and Weisson, together with others, “orchestrated a scheme to defraud Biscayne Capital clients and financial institutions through a series of material misrepresentations and omissions about, among other things, how Biscayne Capital client funds would be used”, the DoJ said.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators used the funds they fraudulently obtained from clients and financial institutions to pay other investors, cover Biscayne Capital expenses, and pay themselves millions of dollars.”
It further alleged that they “falsely told” some Biscayne Capital clients that their investments in certain private investment products would be used to finance the development of real estate projects, when in fact, the monies would be used “to pay other Biscayne Capital clients”.
The DoJ added: “The defendants and their co-conspirators invested certain clients’ money in proprietary products without those clients’ knowledge, and then provided those clients with fraudulent account statements that showed fake investments.
“The defendants and others also conspired to fraudulently induce financial institutions to extend short-term credit to help further the scheme. Haberer then generated fake letters of authorisation to repay the banks out of Biscayne Capital clients’ accounts without those clients’ authorisation.
“By September 2018, the alleged scheme collapsed, and Biscayne Capital went into liquidation, causing more than $155m (£215m, €182m) in losses to Biscayne Capital clients.”
Court appearance
Weisson had an initial court appearance on 8 September before US magistrate judge Chris McAliley of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The DoJ did not state whether Cortes or Haberer had a court appearance in their respective countries.
If convicted on all counts, each defendant faces a maximum 70 years in prison.
