Silver Law Group Investigates Arjent LLC Co-Owners Charged With Defrauding Investors

Boca Raton, Florida – May 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Silver Law Group ( www.silverlaw.com) is investigating claims against the co-owners of a Manhattan-based brokerage firm that allegedly defrauded investors out of millions of dollars by selling overvalued interests in a holding company and then using the investors’ funds for personal expenditures.

According to charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arjent LLC and its UK-based affiliate Arjent Limited were on the edge of insolvency when company Chairman and CEO Robert P. DePalo, along with Managing Director and co-owner Joshua B. Gladtke, made false representations to investors in an effort to both keep the companies afloat and fund DePalo and Gladtke’s extravagant lifestyles. The SEC alleges that DePalo and Gladtke sold shares in a holding company (Pangaea Trading Partners) by misreprenting to investors the value of Pangaea’s assets and how the investment funds would be used. Contrary to the representations made to investors, the first $2.3 million raised in the offering purportedly went straight to DePalo’s personal bank accounts; and additional investor funds were allegedly transferred to Gladtke for his own personal use. When the fraud was detected, DePalo and Gladtke allegedly made misrepresentations to SEC examiners in an effort to cover up the fraud.

Along with the Arjent entities and Messrs. DePalo and Gladtke, the following parties are charged in the SEC’s federal court lawsuit as having violated antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws: Excalibur Asset Management (another entity owned and controlled by DePalo), and Gregg A. Lerman, a principal at Arjent LLC who has agreed to settle the charges against him. Brokerage firms are typically not allowed to sell stock in their own company and most brokerage firms have written supervisory procedures prohibiting the sale of company stock.

If you have been the victim of investment fraud or have been misled by a financial professional trusted with an investment of yours, you might have the grounds upon which to assert a claim to recover your losses through FINRA arbitration or the courts. Silver Law Group is a nationally-recognized securities law firm headquartered in South Florida, with satellite offices in New York and Washington, D.C., representing investors worldwide with their claims for losses due to financial misconduct and consumer fraud. Our attorneys have Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ of “AV” Preeminent for achieving the highest ethical and legal standards. The firm has successfully recovered multi-million dollar awards for its clients through securities arbitration and the courts. To contact Scott L. Silver to discuss your legal matter, call toll-free (800) 975-4345 or e-mail him at SSilver@silverlaw.com.