Massapequa financial adviser Vincent Camarda pleads guilty to defrauding seniors out of millions

A Massapequa financial adviser pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding hundreds of clients, including seniors from Long Island, of millions of dollars in retirement savings.

Vincent J. Camarda, CEO and founder of A.G. Morgan Financial Advisors LLC in Massapequa, was criminally charged with one count of securities fraud and one count of investment advisor fraud.

Camarda, 62, of Amityville, has agreed to pay $160 million in restitution, $6.6 million in forfeiture and fines.

He was charged with the two felony counts before U.S. District Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury in federal court in Central Islip. Camarda was released on a $1 million bond and will be sentenced on Aug. 12.

Roughly 400 clients of A.G. Morgan had their life savings put into investment funds by Camarda and the firm’s president and chief compliance officer, James E. McArthur, that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission four years ago.

The clients, who range in age from 56 to 83, lost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, Newsday first reported in June. Some have said in interviews that they've been forced to return to work or have taken out a second mortgage to pay their bills.

A.G. Morgan has largely ceased to operate since 2024, when dozens of its clients started filing complaints with securities industry regulator, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

So far, FINRA arbitration panels have awarded 22 clients more than $16 million in judgments. Camarda and McArthur have been suspended from the industry for failing to pay the judgments, FINRA records show.

Camarda’s home and the A.G. Morgan office at 5260 Merrick Rd., which he owns, are both in foreclosure, according to state Supreme Court filings.

In nearly 60 emails sent to clients since September 2023, Camarda has indicated he doesn't have the funds to recoup their savings. He has said his Texas business associate, Anthony Zingarelli, lost the money and is attempting to raise funds to repay the clients and Camarda.

Zingarelli "expects to get approved by the end of the week, once he does, he gets funded shortly thereafter," Camarda wrote in a Feb. 26 email obtained by Newsday. "I will keep everyone posted."

Zingarelli's attorney, Kenneth Miller, has said his client doesn't know any A.G. Morgan clients and never directly received investments from them.

The demise of A.G. Morgan began in June 2022 when the SEC filed suit in Central Islip accusing the firm of fraud.

The SEC alleged that Camarda and the firm recommended and sold securities without disclosing that they were indebted to the securities' issuer, Par Funding, and therefore had a conflict of interest. Federal regulators have determined that Philadelphia-based Par was a Ponzi scheme, shut it down and sent its CEO to prison for 15 years, according to court filings.

The SEC also alleged that more than $75 million was raised by A.G. Morgan from more than 200 investors through the sale of unregistered securities with Par between 2017 and 2020. A.G. Morgan, Camarda and McArthur were paid more than $7 million in connection with the sales, the filings show.

The men and the firm have denied the charges. Settlement talks have been held in Central Islip but the case remains ongoing, according to court filings.

Camarda founded A.G. Morgan in 2014 after working at several financial services firms, including more than 10 years at American Express Financial Advisors Inc. He grew up on Long Island and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting at Hofstra University before becoming a financial adviser, regulatory filings show.

Camarda lost most of his possessions in two house fires within two years that he said were caused by damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, according to public records and a 2023 deposition he made in the SEC case.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.