Barred Long Island Broker Arrested Again for Defrauding Investors

A Long Island broker who was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has been arrested for the second time this year over investment fraud crimes.

Peter Quartararo, 56, of Glen Cove, New York, who was arraigned in April with a business partner on charges they stole $436,000 from four investors, was arraigned Tuesday before Judge David Levine on charges he stole more than $80,000 from victims who believed they were investing in shares of Airbnb, DoorDash and Petco, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce A. Smith said.

Quartararo was charged with grand larceny in the second degree (a C felony) and grand larceny in the third degree, according to Smith. If convicted on the top count, the maximum sentence he can receive is 5 to 15 years in prison. Quartararo is due back in court on Oct. 20.

“This defendant has now been arrested twice this year for allegedly defrauding multiple victims with the same empty elevator pitch, stealing more than $500,000 in total from his victims and never delivering on his promises,” Smith said in a statement.

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In August 2020, Quartararo introduced himself to his first victim at a tenants-only barbecue at the complex he lived in and claimed he was an investor and a financial advisor, according to Smith. Quartararo allegedly told the victim he possessed pre-initial public offering shares of Airbnb and DoorDash at $2 a share and that he would sell the victim some of his shares.

The individual gave Quartararo $11,500 in cash and later wired him an additional $58,000 in exchange for what the victim believed to be pre-IPO shares of Airbnb, according to Smith.