Sheepshead Bay Stock Broker Accused Of Stealing $200,000+ From Clients

A phony stock broker working out of his Sheepshead Bay apartment was indicted on charges of conning clients out of more than $200,000, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced today.

Boris Shteyngart, 24, was running his securities scam from his home at 3311 Shore Parkway where he allegedly fooled four of his clients out of money by making them believe they were buying legitimate stocks. Among those he allegedly bilked out of money are a dentist from Missouri, who invested $142,000, and an 84-year-old Queens man who invested $10,000, the bulk of his life savings.

“Let this indictment serve as notice that my office is committed to working with FIRA [the Financial Industry Regulation Authority] and other authorities to protect the retirement savings and investments of hard working citizens from the unscrupulous and dishonest acts of men such as Boris Shteyngart,” said District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, at a press conference this morning.

From January 2009 to September 2011, Shteyngart, who sometimes used the alias Brian Stein, would cold-call people across the country impersonating a broker, and tell them that he was giving them a second chance on a business opportunity. In at least two incidents he told the clients to make a check out to “BORI,” which he told them stood for Bank of Rhode Island, where he claimed to have a bank account.

The victims were then told to leave a space after BORI for him to fill in an account number, according to the indictment. When Shteyngart received the checks he would add an “S” followed by his last name, and cash the checks.

Shteyngart had been a licensed broker from 2005 to 2009, but was stripped of his license by FIRA for misconduct. He is charged with Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees, Criminal Impersonation, Forgery in the Second Degree, and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

Anyone who believes he or she might be a victim or has information about this case should contact the District Attorney’s Office at (718) 250-2600, or the FINRA hotline (800) 289-9999.

Below is the indictment against Shteyngart:

// <![CDATA[ (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })(); // ]]>