 By the time he terminated Thrift Value Fund relationship in late 1997, García was working at the Greenberg Traurig law firm in Miami, advising banks and Savings and Loans institutions.In 1997, with $800,000 in personal funds and seed money from family and friends, García bought assets of Agora Securities of Miami and relocated it to a Mizner Park office in Boca Raton.With two other associates, Alexis C. Korybut and John Curry, García founded the "Sterling Financial Investment Group (SFIG)."