Joshua Louis Rupp Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud | Goodman & Nekvasil P.A. May Recover Investor Losses
According to the Department of Justice:
U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced that Joshua Louis Rupp, 37, previously of West Olive, Michigan, pled guilty to a felony information alleging securities fraud before the Honorable Sally J. Berens, United States Magistrate Judge. As part of the plea agreement, Rupp has agreed to be ordered to pay full restitution to the victims of his crime. Rupp faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced next year by the Honorable Hala Y. Jarbou, United States District Judge. The Court has not yet set a sentencing date.
According to the plea agreement and felony information, from 2015 to 2019, Rupp recruited investors by posing as a licensed broker or trader who worked at one of two different brokerage firms. Rupp told investors that he worked under the supervision of fictitious persons at those firms, one of whom he claimed was his uncle. Rupp also told investors that the principal of the investments could not be lost for various reasons, including his choice of investments, trading strategy, and insurance. Rupp fabricated documents as part of the scheme, including false account statements, a fraudulent securities license, and business documents bearing the logos of the companies for which he claimed to work. Some of the documents stated that he had passed a securities trader qualification examination or that he was registered with the State of Michigan. These claims, and others he made to induce and retain investments, were false. In total, Rupp obtained more than $2.7 million from at least 19 investors, misappropriated more than $500,000 of investors’ funds, and lost most of the remaining funds trading securities.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Rupp on July 28, 2021, related to some of the conduct charged in the felony information. That case was stayed on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s motion pending entry of final judgment in the criminal matter.
“Securities trading is a risky business, and for good reason the professionals who do it are licensed and specially trained,” said U.S. Attorney Birge. “This defendant misrepresented his qualifications to trade on behalf of investors in order to obtain money, lied about the performance of their investments, and misappropriated significant portions of the investments for his own personal gain. He has taken the first step toward making amends by accepting responsibility for this serious crime.”
“The defendant fabricated nearly everything about himself as a broker—his license, experience, and business connections—to induce investors to trust him with their money. He then betrayed that trust by taking a portion of the money for his personal use and fabricating false account statements,” said Timothy Waters, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Michigan. “Financial crimes are not victimless, and I’d like to thank the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in providing a measure of justice to the victims impacted by Mr. Rupp’s crimes.”
Investors with Joshua Louis Rupp May Recover their Losses with Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A.
If you invested with Joshua Louis Rupp, Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. may help you. Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A., a St. Petersburg, FL law firm with a national practice representing victimized investors, has recovered more than $200 million dollars on behalf of victimized investors.
All our cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis by Kalju Nekvasil, Esq., formerly regional counsel with the NASD, now known as FINRA. Kalju Nekvasil, Esq. has practiced in this area of the law for more than 35 years.
There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
If you incurred investment losses with Joshua Louis Rupp and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.