Carlos Legaspy, the CEO of brokerage InSight Securities, won a lucrative contract in 2015 that saw him gain a new client. The contract with Biscayne Capital was worth close to $700m and was a considerable book of business for Legaspy’s company.
However, the partnership with this new client turned sour as he later discovered that Biscayne Capital, a Miami-based RIA firm, was running a $155m international Ponzi scheme – which he was now implicated in.
Three former managers of the now defunct firm Biscayne Capital were arrested last September and charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) with running an international fraud scheme.
Roberto Cortes Ripalda, Fernando Haberer Bergson and Ernesto Weisson Pazmino were accused of allegedly using $155m of their clients’ money to pay off other investors, cover their firm’s expenses and pay themselves millions of dollars, according to the DOJ.
Legaspy’s connection with Biscayne’s cast of alleged financial fraudsters almost destroyed his business and led him to fight a litany of lawsuits to try and clear his name, all of which have been resolved except one which he is still fighting, he says.
‘Have you ever had a relationship that began in such a romantic fashion, where you met by chance or fate, as some might say… And finally, in the end, when everything went south, you rued the day that serendipity brought you together?’
That is how Legaspy has characterized his relationship with Biscayne…
