Foreign exchange brokers charged with fraud

By Palm Beach Business.com

ORLANDO — Federal authorities have charged two brokers with fraud in connection with a foreign currency exchange scam that preyed on investors in South Florida, including Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Pedro De Sousa, 38, of Orlando, and Guillermo Rosario, 41, of San Juan, Puerto Rico each face 57 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison

De Sousa was arrested in Orlando on Tuesday, while Rosario was arrested in San Juan on Wednesday. Both have made initial appearances in court.

According to the indictment, the two men operated businesses called FX Professional Solutions and FX Professional International Solutions. These businesses solicited investors in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties by lying about their experience trading in foreign currencies and their history of securing consistently high returns for investors.

The two also claimed that they were trading investor funds in foreign currency markets. In reality,  the defendants misappropriated and lost investor funds, and attempted to conceal their fraud by paying older investors with funds from newer investors in  Ponzi scheme fashion, and by providing investors with false account statements.

In addition to the criminal charges,  the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a separate civil action against De Sousa and Rosario in federal court in South Florida.