A fired, ex-Janney Montgomery Scott advisor was charged with defrauding his clients of more than $400,000 — money he allegedly used to pay off his own gambling debts and credit card bills.
Apostolos Pitsironis, 52, was arrested and charged earlier this month in a federal court in Central Islip, New York, according to the
“As alleged, the defendant stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors to pay his personal debts, violating the trust they had placed in him to manage their money safely and honestly,” Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme said in a statement.
Pitsironis’ attorney could not be reached for immediate comment.
In one case, between May 2, 2019 and June 11, 2019, Pitsironis allegedly made 22 transfers totaling approximately $411,000 from a client’s account to a bank account he controlled, according to authorities. Pitsironis allegedly used the money to pay for his casino gambling debts and his family’s personal expenses, including credit card bills and the lease for a luxury car, authorities said.
The FBI says that bank records show that Pitsironis made tens of thousands of dollars of payments to three casinos in Atlantic City. had managed investments on behalf of the client and the client’s spouse since 2009, according to federal prosecutors.
Pitsironis was an advisor for 22 years, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He started his career at Morgan Stanley before moving to Janney in 2001. He left the regional broker-dealer in 2008 to work at RBC and Wells Fargo before returning to Janney in 2018.
Janney discharged the Melville-based Pitsironis in June 2019 “after an internal investigation uncovered that the FA transferred funds via unauthorized ACHs from a client's account to a third party bank account owned and controlled by the FA,”
According to a
A spokesman for the firm provided a statement: “Janney is committed to serving our clients with the utmost integrity and trust. Upon discovering the improper actions taken by this advisor with one client account, he was promptly terminated and the client was fully reimbursed. Janney has fully cooperated with law enforcement and will continue to do so.”
FINRA barred Pitsironis from the industry in September 2019. Without admitting or denying the regulator’s findings, Pitsironis consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he converted $411,000 in customer funds, according to the disciplinary record.
In all, there are seven client complaints listed on Pitsironis’ BrokerCheck, all of which have been settled. The oldest complaint was dated to June 2019.
If convicted of the criminal charge, Pitsironis faces up to 20 years in prison.
