By Ann C. Logue
German Nino was a financial advisor for UBS in Miami, specializing in work with high-net-worth clients. He apparently decided to step out on his wife, and he needed money to impress his new girlfriends. He joined UBS in 2012. One of his clients was a retired couple with $11 million in assets. Beginning in 2014, Nino allegedly began taking money out of their account, moving it into accounts that he controlled that were separate from his marital assets, and then faked account statements to hide this from these clients.
It would seem that there were other victims, too. Nino allegedly took $5.8 million from the client referred to in the complaints. He apparently spent $4.2 million on cars, apartments, and private school tuition for various romantic partners and used another $1.6 million to repay a different client that he stole from. In early 2020, the clients’ son caught the account shortfall. Nino allegedly asked him to wait; he planned to change jobs and receive a large signing bonus. He promised to use that bonus to repay everyone.
The clients’ son did not wait for bonus negotiations to begin. He complained to UBS. Based on German Nino’s BrokerCheck profile, it would seem that UBS settled with the client, fired Nino, and turned everything over to the Feds. This undoubtedly saved future clients from funding their wealth manager’s love life.
Nino spent $4.2 million in six years. You know what? That’s about $700,000 a year, on top of what was undoubtedly a large annual take-home check. How many girlfriends and how many cars were there? Were they all receiving new Lamborghinis? Could he not find a few ladies who was impressed by a mere Porsche? The math of romance is a little different than the math of investing. With love, most people greatly reduce their risk by putting all their eggs in one basket. A diversified portfolio of lovers adds cost and risk, and it may not add much to return.
On January 24, the Department of Justice and the SEC charged German Nino, asking for injunctive relief and civil penalties. No word on how many of the girlfriends are still by his side, but apparently, his wife agreed to sign him out on bond.
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