By Robert J. Steele | The Washington PostA man with close ties to Donald Trump, a key supporter of the Republican nominee, is being investigated for allegedly selling off large blocks of his portfolio.
The FBI is looking into whether Robert Riggs, 62, a businessman, had been the target of a massive securities fraud that has left some of the country’s largest brokers and hedge funds in a deep hole.
Riggs was among those targeted in the massive fraud, which occurred in 2016 and was dubbed “Scalper” because of its notoriety in Wall Street circles.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Riggs has been charged with securities fraud and wire fraud in connection with the fraudulent sale of his securities holdings in March 2018, including those in RBLX and the RBLx.
The complaint says that Riggs made several payments to investors in Rblx from a bank account that he controlled.
Riggs allegedly transferred more than $2.8 million to a bank in Delaware that was owned by the broker and hedge fund, according to the complaint.RBLX’s website shows that the firm is the largest U.S. broker-dealer and has assets valued at more than 6,300 million dollars.
RBL and its principals had estimated that the value of their investments would reach $2 billion, but the charges indicate that the market price was closer to $2 million.RBI spokeswoman Jillanne L. O’Malley declined to comment.
The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The charges against Riggs were filed in U.N. court and involve more than 100 investors and brokers, the criminal complaint said.
The charges allege that Riggins alleged that he had been defrauded by more than a dozen people who claimed to be the buyers or sellers of the securities.
Riggis alleged that the investors were trying to sell their assets for profit and were attempting to defraud RBL.RIGGS alleged that in one instance, he had made a $100,000 payment to a purported buyer in a transaction that was approved by RBL but then was reversed because RBL had transferred it to another bank.
In another instance, Rigg was the one who sold a securities investment from RBL that was being transferred to another broker, the complaint said, and he was then asked to transfer another money from his account.
Rigg said he knew about some of these transactions, and when the fraud occurred, he alerted the authorities.
The FBI has also investigated him, but has not reached any conclusions about the charges, according.
“We take any allegation of misconduct very seriously and have taken a comprehensive investigation of RBL in light of this criminal matter,” the SEC said in a statement.
Rigel has worked for RBL since the 1990s.
He was CEO of RBS, the largest British bank.
He has served on the boards of Rbl, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs.RBRX is a trade fund that specializes in a wide range of securities, including currencies and commodities.
In March, it raised $5.6 million from private investors.
In October, it reported a profit of $1.5 million, with revenue of $4.3 million.