Nine Brokers Charged in IPO Scheme

Nine securities brokers who worked at defunct Nationwide Securities Inc. were charged with conspiracy for their role in a scheme to defraud customers who invested in two initial public offerings during 1995 and 1996. The indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that the brokers made more than $2 million in illegal profit from the alleged scheme that used fraudulent and high-pressure sales tactics. Five of the brokers also were named in a related civil suit filed in Manhattan federal court by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among those charged in both the criminal and civil cases were Marco Fiore, 34, of Morganville, N.J., and Benjamin Salmonese, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who were described in court papers as “control persons” at Nationwide. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants retained undisclosed control over substantial positions in the securities by placing them in the names of their wives, girlfriends, grandmothers and in-laws.