FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Brooklyn Man Indicted for Posing as Securities Broker and Selling Nearly $17,000 in Fraudulent Stock to Four Individuals
Allegedly Solicited Investments in Non-Existent Company,
Used Money to Pay Personal Expenses, Including Vacations
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with scheme to defraud, grand larceny, fraudulent securities practice, and related charges for allegedly posing as a securities broker and selling $16,800 in fraudulent stock in a non-existent company to four individuals.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly took advantage of his victims’ lack of investment experience to deceive them and sell thousands of dollars of so-called stock in a fictitious company. I strongly encourage anyone considering investing with a broker or brokerage firm to make sure they are registered and licensed to sell securities with the Financial Industry Regularity Authority (FINRA), as required by law. FINRA’s database of registered brokers may be accessed here.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Ronald Bibby, 44, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was arraigned yesterday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram on a 31-count indictment in which he is charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, third- and fourth-degree grand larceny, fraudulent practices in respect to stocks bonds and other securities, first-degree offering false statements for filing, first-degree falsifying business records, and other related charges. He was ordered held on $20,000 bail and to return to court on August 28, 2019.
The District Attorney said that, according to the indictment, from August to December 2016, the defendant allegedly acted in the capacity of securities broker or salesperson to sell fraudulent stock in a non-existent company, RDB Consulting Group LLC, to four individuals with little to no investment experience. It is alleged that RDB Consulting Group LLC is not incorporated in New York state or a licensed securities brokerage firm and that the defendant is not a licensed securities broker, investment advisor, salesperson or broker/dealer.
After potential investors were introduced to the defendant through family members or friends, the defendant allegedly met with the victims to solicit investments and encouraged them to invest with him to purchase and manage portfolios of “penny stocks” on their behalf. After the purchase agreements were signed, the defendant allegedly required immediate payment in either cash or check. It is alleged that the defendant received investments of $500, $3,000, $5,000 and $8,300, in either cash or check over the course of the scheme.
The money the defendant received was allegedly deposited into his personal Bank of America checking account. A financial review of the defendant’s bank account revealed that the proceeds were used to pay for vacations to Atlantic City, New Jersey and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; merchandise from Coach and Dooney & Burke; day care payments; and car loan and credit card payments.
It is alleged that the defendant provided near daily fraudulent investment updates to the victims by phone or by email based on the ticker movement of publicly traded NASDAQ stocks named as “shares” of RDB Consulting Group LLC. The defendant allegedly told victims their portfolios had appreciated thousands of dollars within weeks of investment and that their initial investments and profits could not be withdrawn for at least three months after their purchase agreement.
The defendant allegedly stopped responding to one of the victim’s investment inquiries in December of 2016 and ceased all communications with the victims at various points in 2017. In January of 2018, a victim walked into the 67th Precinct and filed a criminal complaint.
The investigation further revealed that during the same period, the defendant allegedly collected $4,720 in unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled as a full-time employee of Cobble Hill Health Center, earning a salary of approximately $80,000.
The investigation was conducted by detectives assigned to the New York City Police Department’s Grand Larceny Squad and investigators assigned to the New York State Department of Labor’s Office of Special Investigations. Additional assistance was provided by Edward Jaffe, Legal Assistant at the Registration Section of the New York State Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau and by members of the Financial Investigations Unit of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Deidre Moskowitz, under the supervision of Senior Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Gavin Miles, Counsel to the Frauds Bureau, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.