Former Congressman Michael Huffington is suing Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, and affiliated companies for more than $20 million in investment losses. Huffington, the ex-husband of columnist Arianna Huffington, says he was misled about the safety of a fund that contained mortgage-backed securities. The closed-end fund, Carlyle Capital, was supposed to be a low-risk investment fund. Huffington says he invested $20 million in the fund.
Huffington, who was a member of the California House from 1993 to 1995, filed his investment fraud lawsuit against Carlyle and Carlyle Capital executives in Massachusetts Superior Court. Huffington is accusing David M. Rubenstein, Carlyle managing director and co-founder, of misrepresenting the funds’ risks during conversations.
Huffington also contends that in March 2007, John Stomber, the head of Carlyle Capital, told investors that the fund wasn’t exposed to high-risk investments. Huffington says that in August 2007, Stomber told investors that the fund was performing on target. A report in 2008 stated that the fund’s returns were in line with near-term targets. Yet two weeks later, Huffington contends that the equity of the shareholders was gone. In March 2008, Rubenstein contacted Huffington to let him know that the fund had defaulted on its debts and lenders were selling the collateral.
Carlyle Capital was supposed to borrow money to purchase the securities and then make money on the difference between what was earned on the interest paid on the bonds and the firm’s borrowing costs. The fund collapsed after lenders made repeated margin calls. The private equity firm and its investors lost $700 million.
Related Web Resources:
High-Profile Investor Sues Carlyle Group, Forbes.com, July 13, 2009
Carlyle Sued Over Fund’s Losses, Forbes.com, July 13, 2009
Our stockbroker fraud law firm represents investors that have suffered financial losses of all sizes because they were the victims of investment fraud. If you suffered investment losses related to mortgage backed securities because you were given misleading or inaccurate information by a member of the securities industry, contact one of our securities fraud lawyers today.