Brooklyn federal judge Sandra L. Townes on Friday sentenced Hector Gallardo, a former Manhattan-based registered representative with Orion Trading, LLC, a broker-dealer, to 60 months in prison for stealing investments induced through false promises of exorbitant monthly returns. The criminal case against Gallardo is the second time in recent months that federal prosecutors followed up on Securities and Exchange Commission charges against brokers for swindling Latin American investors. Manhattan prosecutors in May and June charged registered representatives at a brokerage firm, Direct Access Partners, in connection with a bribery scheme involving a Venezuelan official that allegedly netted the perpetrators some $60 million in illicit fees. The two sets of charges show a heightened focus on protecting investors from fraud whether or not they are based in the United States. But a key difference between them is that the charges against the Direct Access brokers also included alleged violations
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