The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are currently investigating claims that Broker Hector Villaescusa (Villaescusa) has been accused by investors of engaging in fraudulent misappropriation of their funds. According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it appears that Villaescusa was employed by Bulltick, LLC at the time of the activity. If you have been a victim of Villaescusa’s alleged misconduct our firm may be able to assist you in recovering funds.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $20,000,000.00 on March 20, 2025.
The allegations in this civil complaint were the subject of a prior U4 filing submitted on February 5, 2024 (filing ID 63634608), and amended on April 10, 2024 (filing ID 64281386), regarding a civil complaint originally filed in New York state court in January 2024. That prior, original complaint was recently dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. The civil complaint that is the subject of this U4 amended filing is a refiled complaint, but now in Florida state court. As was described to FINRA staff in the prior U4 filings, Plaintiffs are private investment vehicles associated with a family office of a high-net-worth family and allege that they lost money investing a private special vehicle that invested in convertible notes issued by Theia International group LLC (‘Theia’) a technology company. Plaintiffs invested a total of $20 million in January 2021. The complaint alleges that Theia, the representative and others made misrepresentations in connection with the investments and that Theia, along with the representative and others, misappropriated the plaintiff’s funds.
Our law firm has significant experience bringing cases on behalf of defrauded victims when their advisors engage in receiving loans from clients or selling securities sales through OBAs. “Selling away” is the industry term for the sale of unauthorized investments, fraudulent financial schemes that cover up misappropriated funds, and other illicit activities, all of which constitute a serious violation of securities laws. In the industry, “selling away” describes a financial advisor soliciting investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that lack prior approval from their affiliated brokerage firm. While some of these investments may have a degree of legitimacy, they often turn out to be Ponzi schemes or involve advisors misappropriating funds.
However, federal securities laws and the FINRA rules require firms to monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. Each firm is obligated to enforce measures that oversee brokers by monitoring advisors’ conduct and their interactions with clients. Selling away misconduct often occurs where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct including selling away.
In cases of selling away the investor is unaware that the advisor’s investments are improper. In many of these cases the investor will not learn that the broker’s activities were wrongful until after the investment scheme is publicized, the broker is fired or charged by law enforcement, or stops returning client calls altogether.
Villaescusa entered the securities industry in 2000. Villaescusa has been registered as a Broker with Bulltick, LLC since 2019.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.