Peter Girgis Fraud Case: Guilty Plea, SEC Action, and Sentencing

Peter N. Girgis, a former securities broker with a long disciplinary record, pleaded guilty on December 18, 2025, in the federal Peter Girgis fraud case, admitting his role in a $65 million pre-IPO investment scheme that defrauded more than 550 investors, many of them elderly. He faces up to 60 years in prison. Sentencing has been postponed, and no new date has been set publicly.¹

What the Scheme Did

From July 2021 through April 2023, Girgis ran a network of investment funds with co-defendants John S. Cangialosi Jr. and Gene “Jerry” Sarabella, operating under the names Max Infinity Management LLC and Elder Fund Management LLC. The funds claimed to hold pre-IPO stock in private companies, and investors were told their money would sit in escrow until those companies went public.²

Prosecutors described the operation as a boiler room. Unregistered sales agents cold-called prospects from purchased call lists, using fake names, spoofed phone numbers, and fabricated credentials. Many of the targets were senior citizens. Training sessions run by the three principals instructed agents to act as “actors” and to manufacture urgency to pressure people into buying in.²

Investors were told the pre-IPO shares were “dirt cheap,” would deliver returns of 200 percent or more, carried little to no risk, and involved no upfront fees. Agents pointed to an “impressive track record” involving companies like Stripe, Instacart, and Chime. None of it was true. Max Infinity had never returned a profit to any investor.¹

Where the Money Went

Despite the promise of no upfront fees, the defendants secretly marked up the price of fund interests by 45 percent to more than 100 percent above what they paid for the underlying stock. According to the SEC, those hidden markups pulled about $30.9 million out of the roughly $70 million raised. Around $6.8 million paid undisclosed sales commissions, and more than $11 million was taken by Girgis, Cangialosi, and Sarabella for personal use.²

Prosecutors said the three men bought dozens of high-end watches, jewelry, cars, and vacations, with roughly $2.9 million going to luxury goods alone. Money moved through shell companies with no real business operations, and investor funds were commingled across accounts the principals controlled rather than held in escrow as promised. Only one of the pre-IPO companies at issue ever went public, and that event produced substantial losses for the fund’s investors.²

Why Girgis Stayed Hidden

The SEC described Girgis and Cangialosi as the behind-the-scenes controllers of the scheme. Both had extensive regulatory histories, which is why they kept themselves off the offering documents. Sarabella, who had no financial services background, was installed as the public face and identified as the funds’ organizer, while a nominal manager was named to keep Girgis and Cangialosi out of view.²

Girgis’s record stretches back more than two decades. He was registered as a broker at eight firms between 2002 and 2022, and FINRA sanctioned him repeatedly along the way:³

2013: Fined $5,000 and suspended three months for failing to disclose unsatisfied judgments and liens on regulatory filings.
2013: Fired by Joseph Gunnar after allegedly violating a FINRA suspension by contacting a client and facilitating the creation of an altered account statement.
2014: Fined $5,000 and suspended 45 days for sending a customer’s private financial information to an unauthorized person.
2021: Fined $7,500, ordered to pay $169,677 in restitution, and suspended nine months for excessive and unsuitable trading at Legend Securities and Worden Capital. FINRA found he had de facto control over the accounts, which generated $224,573 in customer losses and $199,622 in trading costs, most of it commissions to him.

His BrokerCheck record also shows 10 customer disputes, including a $10.9 million claim alleging unsuitability, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence.⁴ Illinois permanently revoked his registration in June 2022, citing his FINRA history and findings of fraudulent practices.⁵ FINRA permanently barred him from the industry in October 2024 after he failed to respond to information requests.³

The Federal Charges and Guilty Plea

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York indicted Girgis, Cangialosi, and Sarabella on five counts: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. The case is docketed as 24-CR-363 before U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon.¹

On December 18, 2025, all three men pleaded guilty to every count in Brooklyn federal court. Each faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.⁶ The U.S. Attorney’s Office Asset Forfeiture Section is handling forfeiture in the case.¹

The Parallel SEC Case

The SEC filed a separate civil enforcement action on January 31, 2025, charging Girgis and the other principals, two sales team leaders, a nominal manager, another individual, and five corporate entities with violations of federal antifraud, securities registration, and broker-dealer registration provisions. The complaint puts the amount raised at about $70 million and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus interest, civil penalties, and officer-and-director bars against Girgis, Cangialosi, and Sarabella.⁷ The civil case has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal prosecution and an ongoing grand jury investigation.⁸

Sentencing Status

Sentencing has been pushed back. Defense attorneys moved on April 14, 2026, to continue the sentencing date and schedule a Fatico hearing, the proceeding a federal judge uses to resolve factual disputes that affect a sentence. Judge Amon granted the motion on April 17, 2026.⁹ No replacement sentencing date has been announced publicly.

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Principals of Pre-IPO Fund Plead Guilty to $65 Million Fraud and Money Laundering
2
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Complaint, Case No. 1:25-cv-549
3
FINRA BrokerCheck. Peter N. Girgis, CRD# 4520444
4
FINRA BrokerCheck. Peter N. Girgis, CRD# 4520444 – Detailed Report
5
Illinois Secretary of State. Administrative Actions, June 2022
6
SILive.com. Staten Island Man, Co-Defendants Plead Guilty to Investment Fraud Scheme Targeting Seniors
7
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Litigation Release No. 26233
8
Investment Executive. Two Plead Guilty in Pre-IPO Fund Scheme
9
PACER Monitor. USA v. Cangialosi et al., Docket No. 24-CR-363, Filing 203