What is Investment Fraud?
Investment fraud is a financial crime that occurs when a broker, financial advisor, or other investment professional uses deception or dishonesty to steal money from investors or generate unauthorized profits at their expense, and a Florida investment fraud lawyer based in Miami-Dade County can help you fight back.
This type of financial fraud can take many forms. Some of the most common manifestations include misrepresenting the risks of a particular security, hiding fees or conflicts of interest, recommending investments that serve the broker’s commission goals rather than your financial well-being, or embezzlement of funds from your account.
Both federal securities laws and the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act under Chapter 517 make these practices illegal, giving victims the right to pursue financial recovery. Many investors don’t realize they’ve been defrauded until they notice unexpected losses on their account statements months or even years after the damage began. If your portfolio has taken losses you can’t explain, or if your advisor has stopped returning your calls, you may be dealing with investment fraud.
Miami and Greater Florida Fraud Statistics
Miami and the rest of Florida are a hotbed for investment fraud due to its large population of retirees with vast accumulated wealth. This makes South Florida in particular a target for unscrupulous brokers.
There’s a reason that Miami-Dade County is known as the “fraud capital of the United States”.
Here are some shocking findings from a recent FTC report:
Data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that South Florida, which includes Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, ranked No. 1 in the nation last year for fraud, with roughly 2,800 reports per 100,000 residents. Floridians lost nearly $900,000,000 to fraud alone in 2024!
On top of that, the Miami, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale Area have nearly twice the national average of reported fraud cases. You have to protect yourself.
Investigations of Miami, Florida Brokers by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce
The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce has published investigations into several brokers who worked in or were based in Miami, Florida, with multiple customer complaints on their records. Fred Berens, a broker who was registered with Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and previously with Wells Fargo Clearing Services, has been the subject of five customer complaints, two of which resulted in arbitration awards for investors (one exceeding $2.5 million) and three of which were settled in the investors’ favor. Javier Adolfo Naselli, a Creand Securities broker, has four customer-dispute disclosures on his FINRA BrokerCheck report, including a pending arbitration alleging an unsuitable “selling-away” scheme tied to a proposed biorefinery investment in Uruguay, along with older disputes involving excessive commissions and unauthorized account management. Chuck A. Roberts, formerly of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company (and previously Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Oppenheimer), was barred by FINRA in July 2025 after refusing to give on-the-record testimony during an investigation into numerous customer disputes totaling tens of millions of dollars, largely involving unsuitable recommendations of structured notes and complex products. The firm has also flagged former Jefferies LLC brokers Pablo Gherardi, Santiago Ocampo, and Nicholas Coubrough, all located in Miami, as subjects of sales-practice-abuse investigations, with the firm noting that the large number of customer complaints at Jefferies LLC raises broader questions about that brokerage’s supervisory practices.
What Types of Investment Fraud Cases do we Handle in Miami?
Our Miami investment fraud attorneys handle a wide range of cases, including Ponzi schemes, unauthorized trading, churning, misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty. Each type of fraud requires a specific legal strategy, and our firm has the experience to pursue every available path to recovering your damages.
How Can a Miami Investment Fraud Lawyer Help You Recover Your Losses?
When you hire an investment fraud lawyer, the first thing we do is conduct a thorough review of your account records, trade confirmations, and correspondence with your broker or financial advisor to identify exactly where things went wrong.
From there, we build a case that documents every instance of misconduct, whether it involves unsuitable recommendations, hidden fees, or outright theft. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. will fight to get back what is rightfully yours, and we have the resources and experience to take on even the largest brokerage firms and their corporate defense teams. Depending on the facts of your case, we can pursue recovery through FINRA arbitration, mediation, or civil litigation in state or federal court. Many business fraud cases settle before a hearing ever takes place because firms would rather resolve claims quietly than risk a larger public award, which is exactly why you want experienced investment fraud attorneys on your side from the start.
What is FINRA Arbitration and How Does it Work?
If you’ve lost money because of broker misconduct, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration may be your fastest path to recovering lost funds.
FINRA, as it is commonly known, oversees the dispute resolution process that handles the majority of investor claims against brokers and brokerage firms in the United States. Unlike traditional court proceedings, arbitration places your case before a panel of trained arbitrators who review the evidence, hear testimony from both sides, and issue a binding decision. The process is typically faster and less expensive than going to court, which is why most brokerage account agreements include a clause requiring that disputes be resolved through FINRA arbitration rather than a lawsuit. For example, a retired Miami client who lost their savings to excessive trading in their account could file a statement of claim with FINRA and potentially receive a decision within 12 to 16 months, depending on the complexity of the case.
What Are the Statutes of Limitations for Securities Fraud in Florida?
Florida law sets strict deadlines on how long you have to take legal action after discovering investment fraud, and missing those deadlines can permanently eliminate your right to recover your losses. The statute of limitations can be as short as two years for some cases or 4 years for others. It depends on the nature of your case.
Criminal prosecutions for violations of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act under Chapter 517 must be initiated within five years of the alleged violation. If your claim falls under FINRA arbitration, you generally have six years from the date of the event giving rise to the dispute to file your statement of claim. Because these time limits vary depending on the type of claim and the specific facts of your situation, it is important to speak with an experienced investment fraud attorney as soon as you suspect something is wrong so you can protect your right to full recovery.
Why do Miami investors choose the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce?
Our investment fraud law firm has built a reputation on results, and those results speak for themselves. With over $185 million in recovered damages for investors across the country, the attorneys at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. have the track record and the trial experience to handle even the most complex securities fraud cases. Our securities fraud lawyers have spent decades representing investors who suffered investment losses at the hands of the people they trusted most with their financial futures, and we understand how overwhelming it can feel when you realize your investment advisor acted against your interests. We want you to know that our firm will do everything in its power to make you whole again. We offer free consultations to every potential client, and we handle investment fraud cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation on your behalf.If you are an investor in Miami who has suffered financial losses because of broker misconduct, fraud, or negligence, our Florida office at Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. is ready to review your case and help you understand your options. Our securities fraud attorneys have the experience and resources to take on brokerage firms of any size, and we won’t stop fighting until we’ve pursued every available path to recovering your money. Call us today at (866) 860-7447 or send us a secure message online to schedule your free, confidential consultation. You don’t have to go through this alone.