FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 6, 2002

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Genene Morris (973)504-6327

NEWARK—New Jersey is suing a Bergen County man who allegedly tricked investors into giving him more than $1.2 million by promising them that their money would be used to purchase stocks in major corporations when, in fact, he was misappropriating their money for other purposes, Attorney General David Samson and Consumer Affairs Director Reni Erdos said today.

The State's suit, filed in Essex County Superior Court by the Attorney General and Consumer Affairs' Bureau of Securities ("BOS"), alleges Robert Veltri of Edgewater made repeated misrepresentations to investors in an attempt get them to entrust their investments with him. Compounding this, Veltri and his company, FSI & Associates, were not even registered with the BOS as required by law; and despite his promises to investors, their money was not used for the purchase of stocks in major corporations, such as AOL and AT&T, although he produced fake statements to show otherwise. As a result, the complaint alleges six victims were misled by Veltri and were swindled out of more than $1.2 million.

Veltri, who is currently under indictment by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office for misappropriating investors' money, resided at 26 Palisade Terrace, Edgewater. FSI & Associates had its principal place of business at 1255 River Road and later at 935 River Road, Edgewater.

The complaint alleges that to date, most of the investors have not received a refund of their initial investments nor have they received any interest payments from Veltri.

"The decision to purchase securities can be a difficult oneŠparticularly when large sums of money are involved. The last thing investors need are dishonest individuals whose sole intent is to take advantage of their trust," Governor James E. McGreevey said.

"The allegations against Mr. Veltri are extremely serious," Attorney General Samson said. "Mr. Veltri and his company were not in compliance with the state registration requirements for professional investors. These registration requirements are designed to monitor investment counselors and protect consumers. Separate and apart from the work by criminal authorities against him, we are working to make sure that Mr. Veltri's misdeeds do not go unpunished."

"Mr. Veltri had a legal obligation to become registered with the Bureau of Securities and to register his company," Erdos said. "By failing to do so and failing to be up-front with investors about his status and his intentions for their money, he betrayed investors' trust. We will take every action in our power to make whole the people who were duped."

"Our suit seeks an order preventing Mr. Veltri from selling securities within and from the State of New Jersey, and to have him pay penalties to the State and full restitution to affected investors," Erdos said.

"Before making any investment decisions, investors should check with the Bureau of Securities to make sure someone who is pitching the investment opportunity is registered and has a clean record with the Bureau," BOS Chief Franklin Widmann said. "If that person is not registered, you should avoid doing business with him or her and report that person to the Bureau. You should also avoid doing business with financial professionals who have a record of state, federal and self-regulatory disciplinary actions, negative arbitration decisions and civil litigation judgements."

In addition to checking on an investment professionals status and reputation, Widmann urges investors to heed the following advice:

• Always take time to interview two or three investment professional's before settling on one who seems to understand your needs.
• Recognize that a broker who uses the title "financial consultant" or "investment counselor" does not necessarily have any extra training or expertise other than that of selling stocks and bonds.
• If you are working with an investment advisor, ask to see both parts of their Form ADV. (They are required to give you Part Two, which sets out their method of compensation, education, areas of expertise, investment strategies and business methods.) Part One can also be helpful, as it includes their disciplinary history, which could serve as a warning.

Deputy Attorney General James B. McKinney of the Division of Law is handling this matter for the State.

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