Five ex-Aurelia Finance wealth managers have paid “substantial compensation” to resolve criminal complaints related to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scam. According to prosecutors, the Swiss-based private bank lost up to $800 million of client money that they put into the scheme.
Pascal Cattaneo, Jean Marc Weneger, Vladimir Stepczynski, Olivier Ador, and Laurent Mathysen-Gerst were charged with criminal mismanagement of the money because they put too much into a Madoff feeder fund. Among those who lost money through asset management units were Italy’s UniCredit, Santander (SAN.MC), and Swiss-based EFG International. Prosecutors claim that the ex-directors got rich on management fees, commissions, and finder fees paid for bogus returns that were never verified.
In total, the Madoff Ponzi scam cost its investors $17 billion. Those impacted included retail investors, celebrities, other wealthy private investors, and institutional investors.
Meantime, efforts to recover the money lost by Madoff’s victims continue.
In a Ponzi scam, investors are promised great returns that do come in at first except that no actual investments are being made. Instead, the fraudsters are using new investors money to pay “returns” to earlier investors. A Ponzi scheme will usually end up failing when too many investors ask for their money back or money from new investors starts drying up. Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scam went on for years. He has since been sentenced to 150 year behind bars.
Our securities fraud law firm represents investors seeking to get back their money lost because of the negligence of financial professionals, their firms, and others.
Signs of a Potential Ponzi Scam
· High returns with no or low risk
· Returns that are too consistent. Real investments typically fluctuate over time, especially when they could potentially bring in high returns.
· Investments that are not registered
· Sellers with no license
· Paperwork issues, including account statements mistakes and lack of paperwork
· Problems getting payments or casing out your investment
If you are an institutional investor that has sustained financial losses, contact The SSEK Partners Group today to speak with one of our securities lawyers.
Wealth Managers Pay Defrauded Investors To Settle Madoff Case, International Business Times, September 5, 2015