As part of the scheme, he lied to the couple about their account balances and rates of returns, as well as forged their signatures to authorize account transfers, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In one case, Nino put together a fake land purchase contract and forged a client’s signature on it to make it appear the client was purchasing land in Colombia, prosecutors said.
The SEC said in its complaint that Nino submitted fraudulent authorization letters to UBS when the transfers were for $100,000 or more.
The commission said the clients' son discovered the gaps in the accounting and confronted Nino, eliciting a confession.
“Eventually, Nino confessed to the son that he had stolen [the] client’s money, promising that he would pay [the client] back with a signing bonus he would receive when he joined a new firm,” the SEC said.
The clients told UBS, which investigated and demanded an interview from Nino in February 2020. “Nino resigned instead,” the SEC complaint said.
Nino also used a portion of the stolen funds to fully repay another client from whom he had previously misappropriated funds, according to Nino’s BrokerCheck report.
UBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.