Articles Posted in Hedge Funds

Institutional Investment Roundup: FINRA Lets Ex-UBS Broker Keep $1M Signing Bonus, Court Approves Settlement Reached By Ex-Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Managers & SEC, Madoff Investors’ Securities Suit Against the Govt. is Dismissed

Published on: June 23, 2012 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Arbitration panel has decided that ex-UBS Financial Services broker Pericles Gregoriou can keep $1 million of the signing bonus he was given when he joined the financial firm even though he left the company earlier than what the terms of the hiring agreement stipulated. Gregoriou worked for the UBS AG (UBS) unit from ’07 to ’09.

This is an unusual victory for a broker. They usually find it very challenging to contest demands by a financial firm to give back unpaid bonus money. However, the FINRA panel said that Gregoriou was not liable for the $1 million damages. Also, the
panel denied Gregoriou’s counterclaim against UBS and a number of individuals. He had sought $3.24 million.

In a securities fraud case involving two former Bear Stearns employees against the SEC, “reluctantly,” the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a settlement deal involving Matthew Tannin and Ralph Cioffi. The defendants are accused of making alleged representations about two failing hedge funds.

The ex-Bear Stearns managers faced civil and criminal charges in 2008 for allegedly misleading bank counterparties and investors about the financial state of the funds, which ended up failing due to subprime mortgage-backed securities exposure in 2007. Cioffi and Tannin were acquitted of the criminal allegations in 2009.

Senior Judge Frederic Block approved the agreement wile noting that the SEC has limited powers when it comes to getting back the financial losses of investors. He asked Congress to think about whether the government should do more to help victims of “Wall Street predators.”

Per the terms of the securities settlement, Tannin will pay $200K in disgorgement and a $100K fine. Meantime, Cioffi will also pay a $100K fine and $700K in disgorgement. Although both are settling without denying or admitting to the allegations, they also have agreed to not commit 1933 Securities Act violations in the future and consented to temporary securities industry bars—Tannin for two years and Cioffi for three years.

In other securities law news, the U.S. District for the District of Columbia dismissed the lawsuit that investors in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scam had filed against the government. The reason for the dismissal was lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The investors blame the SEC for allowing the multibillion dollar scheme to continue for years and they have pointed to the latter’s alleged gross negligence” in not investigating the matter. The plaintiffs contend that the Commission breached its duty to them. Judge Paul Friedman, however, sided with the government in its argument that the investors’ claims are not allowed due to the Federal Tort Claims Act’s “discretionary function exception,” which gives the SEC broad authority in terms of when to deciding when to conduct probes into alleged securities law violations.

While recognizing the plaintiffs’ “tragic” financial losses, the court found that investors failed to identify any “mandatory obligations” that were violated by SEC employees that executed discretionary tasks. The plaintiffs also did not adequately plead that the SEC’s activities lacked grounding in matters of public policy.

Meantime, the SEC has named ex-Morgan Stanley (MS) executive Thomas J. Butler the director of its new Office of Credit Ratings. The office is in charge of overseeing the nine nationally recognized statistical rating organizations that are registered, and it was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The office will conduct a yearly exam of each credit rating agency and put out a public report.

UBS loses case to recoup bonus from ex-broker, Reuters, February 6, 2012

Former Exec to Head Office of Credit Ratings, The Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2012

More Blog Posts:
SEC Wants Proposed Securities Settlements with Bear Stearns Executives to Get Court Approval, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, February 28, 2012

AARP, Investment Adviser Association, Among Groups Asking the SEC to Make Brokers Abide by 1940 Investment Advisers Act’s Fiduciary Duty, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 14, 2012

Montford Associates to Pay $650,000 in Securities and Exchange Commission Penalties Over Failure to Disclose Payments from Hedge Fund

Published on: May 1, 2012 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The SEC has ordered investment adviser Montford Associates and Ernest Montford Sr. to pay $650K in penalties for failing to disclose that it had received $210K from an allegedly fraudulent hedge fund that it had recommended to clients. The name of the fund is SJK Investment Management. Its owner, Stanley Kowalewski, is accused of using the fund to commit a $16.5 million fraud. Investors that put their money in the fund included the Tallulah Falls School’s endowment program, St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital System, Georgia Ports Authority, Sea Island Co. Retirement Plan, and Savannah Country Day School Foundation.

Although Montford Associates and Ernest Montford are not accused of involvement in Kowalewski’s securities fraud, the two of them allegedly lied to investors by not telling them about the compensation they were getting for the referrals. Montford and his investment adviser firm were paid “marketing and syndication fees” and “consulting services.”

The SEC contends that failure to disclose the payments for the recommendations violates federal securities laws. The Commission also says that even though Montford was aware that these nonprofits, many of them charitable organizations and schools, were run by part-time volunteers that depended on his investment advice and he knew they wanted consistent, stable investments, he still pushed them to move their investments to SJK so that Kowalewski could manage their money.

In addition to the $650,000 penalty, Montford Associates and Montford must pay disgorgements of $130,000 and $80,000, each with prejudgment interest. They also must set up a Fair Fund so that their clients that were harmed can use the penalties and disgorgement. Both must also cease and desist from committing/causing future violations of the Advisers Act and Advisers Act Rule 204-1(a)(2). Montford also is barred from associating with brokers, investment advisers, municipal securities dealers, dealers, transfer agents, municipal advisors, and nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.

As for the SEC’s hedge fund fraud case against Stanley Kowalewski, the Commission is accusing the hedge fund manager of using millions of dollars in client funds to buy his residence and a beach home and directing $10 million in unfounded fees to his investment management company and himself. He allegedly tried to hide his financial scam by sending fraudulent account statements to investors each month. These updates grossly exaggerated the actual values of assets and returns.

SEC Fines Adviser Over Ties To Hedge Fund Accused Of Fraud, FINalternatives.com, April 30, 2012

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanley J. Kowalewski, et al, Case No. 1:11-cv-00056-TCB (N.D. Ga.), SEC.gov, August 29, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Institutional Investor Fraud Roundup: SEC Seeks Approval of Settlement with Ex-Bear Stearns Portfolio Managers, Credits Ex-AXA Rosenberg Executive for Help in Quantitative Investment Case; IOSCO Gets Ready for Global Hedge Fund Survey, Institutional Investor Securities Fraud, March 29, 2012

Insider Trading: Former FrontPoint Partners Hedge Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges, Institutional Investor Securities Fraud, August 20, 2011

Silicon Valley Man Faces SEC Securities Fraud Charge After Allegedly Bilking Internet Start-Up Investors of the “Next Google” of Millions, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 19, 2012

Institutional Investor Fraud Roundup: SEC Seeks Approval of Settlement with Ex-Bear Stearns Portfolio Managers, Credits Ex-AXA Rosenberg Executive for Help in Quantitative Investment Case; IOSCO Gets Ready for Global Hedge Fund Survey

Published on: March 29, 2012 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking district court approval of its proposed securities fraud settlement with two ex-Bear Stearns & Co. portfolio managers. The SEC presented its second plea to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York earlier this month.

In a letter to the court, the SEC cited the Second Circuit Appeals Court’s decision earlier this month to stay a district court judge’s ruling turning down the Commission’s proposed $285M settlement with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. It said that the order in that matter “supports approval and entry” of this pending consent judgment.

If the settlement is approved, former Bear Stearns portfolio managers Matthew and Tannin and Ralph Cioffi would settle SEC charges accusing them of misleading bank counterparties and investors about the financial condition of two hedge funds that failed because of subprime mortgage-backed securities in 2007. Per the terms of the proposed settlement, Tannin would pay $200,000 in disgorgement plus a $50,000 fine and Cioffi would pay $700,000 in disgorgement and a $100,000 fine.

This is the second attempt by the SEC and the defendants to the court for settlement approval after District Court Judge Frederic Block cited concerns made by Judge Rakoff, who is the one who threw out the proposed $285M settlement in the SEC-Citigroup case and ordered both parties to trial. The Second Circuit has since stayed those proceedings. (In the securities case between the SEC and Citigroup, the regulator had accused the financial firm of misrepresenting its involvement in a $1 billion collateralized debt obligation that the latter and structured and marketed five years ago.)

In other SEC news, the Commission has honored its commitment to providing greater transparency when it comes to cooperation credit by notifying the public that it credited an ex-AXA Rosenberg senior executive for his substantial help in an enforcement action against the quantitative investment firm. AXA Rosenberg is accused of concealing a material error in the computer code of the model it used to manage client assets.

The SEC said it would not take action against the former executive not just because of the help he provided, but also because the alleged misconduct in question was one that mattered so much. Fortunately, the SEC was able to give clients back the $217 million they lost, as well is impose penalties of $27.5 million. This was the Commissions first case over mistakes in a quantitative investment model.

Meantime, the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Technical Committee says it has updated the data categories for information it plans to collect in a global survey of hedge funds that will take place later this year. Modified reporting categories include general information about firms, funds, and advisors, geographical focus, market and product exposure for strategy assets, leverage and risk, trading and clearing.

According to IOSCO, responses to the survey will bring together an array of hedge fund information that regulators can look at to determine systemic risk. The committee believes that having securities regulators regularly monitor hedge funds for systemic risk indicators/measures will be beneficial and provide necessary insight into possible issues hedge funds might create for the global financial system. This will be IOSCO’s second survey on hedge funds.

SEC Credits Former Axa Rosenberg Executive for Substantial Cooperation during Investigation, SEC, March 19, 2012

More Blog Posts:
Securities Fraud: Mutual Funds Investment Adviser Cannot Be Sued Over Misstatement in Prospectuses, Says US Supreme Court, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 16, 2011

Janus Avoids Responsibility to Mutual Fund Shareholders for Alleged Role in Widespread Market Timing Scandal, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 11, 2007

Hedge Fund Manager Raj Rajaratnam Ordered by SEC to Pay $92.8M Penalty for Insider Trading

Published on: November 12, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff has ordered Raj Rajaratnam to pay a record $92.8 million penalty for insider trading. This is the largest amount any individual has been ordered to pay for this type of securities fraud.

It was just last month that Rajaratnam, the billionaire Galleon Group, LLC co-founder, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $10 million for his financial scam that garnered $63.8M in illegal gains. He also was forced to forfeit $53.8M. A jury had convicted Rajaratnam of multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy for using illegal tips to make trades before news about mergers, earnings, forecasts, and spinoffs became public.

Along with the fines from the criminal case, the penalty for the civil case ups the total of monetary sanctions that Rajaratnam has been ordered to pay to over $156.6 million. The SEC’s civil action also permanently enjoins him from violating sections of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5.

It was in 2009 that the SEC charged Rajaratnam and several others in the insider trading scam. More defendants were named later that year, as well as in 2010. The case against them was part of a wider insider trading probe that has now charged 29 entities and individuals. Securities in over 15 publicly traded companies were involved resulting in more than $90 million in illicit profits or losses avoided.

Last month, the SEC was able to get a final judgment by consent against Galleon Management. The hedge fund is permanently enjoined from violating the federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions. It is also jointly and severally liable for what Rajaratnam has been ordered to pay.

Also in October, the SEC charged Rajat K. Gupta for providing insider trading tips to Rajaratnam. Gupta, who used to be the global head at McKinsey & Co., was on the boards of Procter and Gamble and Goldman Sachs at the time.

Alleged tips included confidential information about P & G and Goldman’s respective quarterly earnings and a $5 million investment that the latter was planning to make in Berkshire Hathaway. These latest charges come now, after the SEC dismissed charges in an earlier administrative proceeding against Gupta for the same alleged misconduct. Gupta also recently pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges, including multiple counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

The New York Times reports that in the last two years, the US government charged 56 people with insider trading. 51 of these individuals have either been convicted or pleaded guilty.

With Gupta’s Arrest, Insider Inquiry Goes Beyond Wall St., NY Times, October 26, 2011
SEC Brings New Charges against Raj Rajaratnam, SEC, October 26, 2011
More Blog Posts:
Galleon Group LLC Co-Founder Raj Rajaratnam Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison Over Insider Trading Scam, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, October 13, 2011
Ex-Goldman Sachs Board Member Accused of Insider Trading with Galleon Group Co-Founder Seeks to Have SEC Administrative Case Against Him Dropped, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, April 19, 2011
Ex-Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta Pleads Not Guilty to Insider Trading Charges, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, October 26, 2011 Continue Reading ›

Galleon Group LLC Co-Founder Raj Rajaratnam Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison Over Insider Trading Scam

Published on: October 13, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Raj Rajaratnam, a billionaire investor and co-founder of Galleon Group LLC, has been ordered to pay a $10 million fine and serve 11 years in jail for his key role in an insider trading scam that resulted in $63.8M in illegal profits. He must now forfeit $53.8M.

A jury had found the hedge fund tycoon guilty of nine counts of securities fraud and five counts of conspiracy. Rajaratnam would obtain illegal tips from bankers, executives, traders, consultants, and directors of public companies (Goldman Sachs is one). He would then use that insider information to make trades prior to public announcements about mergers, forecasts, earnings, and spinoffs involving a number of companies, including Hilton Hotels, Integrated Circuit, Akamai, and Xilinix)

Rajaratnam’s attorneys are planning to appeal. For now, however, they are requesting that he be confined at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, which is where Bernard Madoff is in jail. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years behind bars for his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scam.

Rajaratnam, who is originally from Sri Lanka was educated in England and the US. He established the Galleon hedge fund in the 1990’s and it became one of the biggest in the world. In 2008, Galleon was managing about $7 billion.

Federal securities investigators began to suspect trouble when, in the Rajaratnam gave the SEC documents for another investigation into the activities of his younger brother-no charges were ever brought t here-a text message was included from an ex-Intel Corp. employee warning to hold off on purchasing Polycom’s stock. The former employee, Rommy Khan, was already suspected of giving out insider information.

In 2007, Khan consented to help the authorities with their probe. He and several others served as cooperating witnesses that helped the government convict Rajaratnam, who was arrested in 2009.

The 11-year sentence against him is shorter than the 24 years and five months that prosecutors wanted. That said, it is still the longest prison sentence ever issued for insider trading.

Still under investigation in connection with the scam is Rajat Gupta, who used to work as a Goldman Sachs director. According to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, criminal charges against him seem likely. Prosecutors consider him a “co-conspirator” in the insider trading case against Rajaratnam.

The SEC, which dropped its civil administrative proceeding against Gupta, plans to refile its charges in federal court. Meantime, Kamal Ahmed, who was also linked to the insider trading scam, has been fired by Morgan Stanley because he had disclosed confidential information. The government has not accused him of wrongdoing.

The SEC also filed a number of securities lawsuits against at least two dozen individuals and businesses in light of the Galleon investigation.

Trader Draws Record Sentence, The Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2011
U.S. Prosecutors ‘Close to Charging’ Rajat Gupta, Bloomberg, September 20, 2011
Accused Rajaratnam Tipster Fired By Morgan Stanley, FIN Alternatives, October 7, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Ex-Goldman Sachs Board Member Accused of Insider Trading with Galleon Group Co-Founder Seeks to Have SEC Administrative Case Against Him Dropped, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, April 19, 2011
A Texan is Among Those Arrested in Insider Trading Crackdown Involving Apple Inc., Dell, and Advanced Micro Devices’ Confidential Data, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, December 16, 2010
3 Hedge Funds Raided by FBI in Insider Trading Case, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 23, 2010 Continue Reading ›

Insider Trading: Former FrontPoint Partners Hedge Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges

Published on: August 20, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Joseph “Chip” Skowron III, an ex- FrontPoint Partners Hedge Fund manager, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges involving insider trading activities that saved his financial firm more than $30 million in losses. Charges include conspiracy to commit securities fraud and to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission probe.

Skowron, 42, admitted that he received confidential information from Yves Benhamou, a French doctor working on clinical trials for a biotechnology company’s hepatitis C drug. After Benhamou notified him that there were certain problems with the medication, in 2008 Skowron had the hedge fund get rid of millions of dollars of shares in the company (the funds’ holdings of Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI)), which is why the more than $30 million loss was averted.

This week, Skowron admitted to directing trades in six FrontPoint health-care funds based on the insider tip. He also said that he lied to the SEC in 2009 about whether Benhamou had given him material, nonpublic information. As part of his plea deal, Skowron will forfeit $5 million. He also could be ordered to serve 5 years behind bars. His sentencing is scheduled for later this year.

A few months ago, FrontPoint paid $33 million to regulators over the related losses that Skowron prevented when he sold the shares. Of the $33 million, $29 million was in disgorgement of avoided losses. The remaining $4 million was for prejudgment interest.

Following the former hedge fund manager’s guilty plea, FrontPoint issued a statement saying that Skowron lied and misled the financial firm’s internal compliance team, the federal government, and the external counsel retained to independently probe his actions. FrontPoint also pointed out that it was never accused of any wrongdoing in this matter.

Over the last two years, 47 hedge fund managers are among those that have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of insider trading. These outcomes are in part because federal government has stepped up its efforts to investigate insider trading on Wall Street.

Earlier this year, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan who has charged dozens of people with insider trading, said the scope of so many allegations indicated that the problem was a “corrupt business model” rather than an “occasional corrupt individual.” He condemned the “prevalence of illegal trading” that has been taking place on Wall Street.

Insider Trading
While legal insider trading, which involves a corporate insider selling stock in the company and reporting these trades to the SEC, does exist and is an acceptable practice, illegal insider trading is against the law. This type of insider trading involves the selling or buying of securities in a manner that uses material, nonpublic information and breaches a fiduciary duty or other relationship of confidence and trust. The person being tipped the insider information, the one tipping the information, or the actual person with the tip making the trade are among those who can be charged with committing illegal insider trading.

Ex-Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to Using Inside Tips, The Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2011

Insider Inquiry Steps Up Its Focus on Hedge Funds, New York Times, February 8, 2011

Former Hedge Fund Portfolio Manager Joseph “Chip” Skowron Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Insider Trading Scheme Involving Clinical Drug Trial, FBI, August 15, 2011

44% of Insider Traders Convicted of Insider Trading in New York Manage to Get Out of Jail Before Even Serving Time, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, January 25, 2011

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC to Pay $850K to Settle Securities Charges Over Alleged Failure to Prevent Inside Trading, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, July 21, 2011

Accused Texas Ponzi Scammer May Have Defrauded Investors of $2M

Published on: August 3, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

An El Paso man accused of running a Texas Ponzi scheme may in fact be a man who was convicted of fraud in Maryland more than 10 years ago. Scott Lindemann is now charged with wire fraud for allegedly defrauding at least 25 investors of $2 million.

Prosecutors say that Lindemann’s real name may actually be Scott Yermish, who left Maryland after serving time in jail. He left the state without finishing his probated time for a theft conviction.

It is in El Paso that Lindemann is accused of using his hedge fund to set up his Texas securities fraud scam. Per court records, he gained the trust of one person, who then assisted him in bringing in more investors. Lindemann allegedly gave some of the investors money so they would think they’d earned a profit. He also generated bogus documents that caused them to believe that their investments had grown substantially.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, one victim of the alleged Texas securities fraud says that she and her husband lost over $250,000. She also claims that other investors took out mortgages on their houses to invest with Lindemann.

The FBI is calling this a “quick investigation.” Lindemann was arrested a week after the complaint was made.

Ponzi Scam
This type of investment fraud generally involves investors receiving purported returns except that the money they are “making” is actually from new investors who think that these funds are being invested. To keep the scheme going, new investors must keep joining up so that scammers can use their money to pay the earlier-stage investors. Ponzi scams can collapse when too many investors ask to cash out or bringing in new investors starts to prove challenging.

Every year, there are investors that lose money because they placed their money in a Ponzi scam. Fortunately, there may be a way to recoup your losses. It is important that you speak with a Texas securities fraud law firm about your case.

Warning Signs that You May Be Investing in a Texas Ponzi Scheme:
• Watch out for “guaranteed” investment opportunities or the promise of high investment returns with little or no risk.
• Returns are too consistent. It is natural for investment returns to go up and down-especially if there is the hope of high returns.
• The investment that isn’t registered with the state or the SEC.
• The investment professional you are working with isn’t registered or licensed.
• The investment strategy involved is too complex for you to understand or you can’t get complete information about it.
• There isn’t enough information about your investment that can be found in writing.
• Account statement errors.
• You aren’t getting promised payments.
• Cashing out on your investment is proving to be a challenge.
• Your financial adviser tries to get you to “roll over” payments that are owed to you with the promise of even higher returns.

Many Ponzi scam victims have lost their life savings, retirement, and/or kids’ college fund because they placed their trust and their money in the hands of the wrong people.

Related Web Resources:
Man arrested by FBI may have scammed millions, San Antonio Express-News, August 2, 2011
Accused Texas Ponzi Schemer May Be Fugitive Md. Fraudster, FinAlternatives, August 3, 2011
Ponzi Scams, SEC

Ponzi Scams, FBI

More Blog Posts:
Houston Securities Fraud: Ex-Citigroup Broker Accused of Stealing Millions from Wealthy Mexican Investors is Barred from FINRA, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, July 29, 2011
Basketball Benefactor Accused of Texas Securities Fraud and Ponzi Scam that Targeted High-Profile Coaches Found Dead, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, July 19, 2011
Venezuelan Workers Fall Victim to Francisco Illarramendi’s Ponzi Scam, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, March 30, 2011 Continue Reading ›

“Poohster” Consultant Found Guilty of Insider Trading

Published on: June 23, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Winifred Jiau, a Fremont, California consultant, has been convicted of insider trading and conspiracy. The network consultant was accused of selling technology company secrets to hedge fund traders for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The trial against Jiau was the first one involving an expert network firm. Primary Global Research in Mountain View employed her.

Expert networks reportedly connect hedge fund mangers and “consultants,” who are usually insiders at publicly traded companies, for a price. At least seven people linked to PGR have been charged with insider trading crimes.

According to Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, Winnie Jiau exploited friends at public companies so she could get and then sell insider information. Noah Freeman, the government’s central witness and an ex- SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund portfolio manager who has pleaded guilty to his involvement, testified that she gave him illegal stock tips. He says that not only did he and his co-conspirators pay her $120,000 annually, but also she expected them to give her presents, which included iPhones, gift certificates, and lobsters. Those who paid her off received reaped substantial rewards. One hedge fund manager says that the tips he received were usually more “accurate” and “detailed” than any source and that the insider information allowed him to make $5 million to $10 million.

Some of Jiau’s hedge fund clients reportedly called her “the Poohster” after Winnie the Pooh, the fictitious bear that is always looking for a honey pot. Also, she reportedly used the code word “sugar” in emails and instant messages to refer to her payoffs. She called her tipsters “cooks” and her tips “recipes.”

Related Web Resources:
Expert Network Consultant is Convicted in Insider Trading Case, NY Times, June 20, 2011
Bay Area inside trader, Winifred Jiau, convicted, SF Gate, June 21, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Day Trader Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud Charges Related to Insider Trading Scam, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, May 25, 2011
Motion to Dismiss SEC Lawsuit Accusing Dallas Billionaire Brothers of $500,000 Securities Fraud Denied, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 1, 2011
Guilty Plea for Financial Adviser Who Used UBS Tips in $1M Healthcare Insider Trading Scheme, Stockbroker fraud Blog, January 28, 2011 Continue Reading ›

Lancer Management Group LLC Hedge Fund Manager Acquitted of Charges He Ran Market Manipulation Scam

Published on: May 5, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A jury has acquitted Lancer Management Group LLC hedge fund manager Michael Lauer of securities fraud charges accusing him of running a stock-pricing scheme believed to cost investors of more than $200 million. After over three days of deliberation, Lauer was found not guilty of conspiracy in connection with the alleged scam and the charge of wire fraud.

The government had accused Lauer and an associate of buying restricted stock of shell companies as far back as 1999 and telling brokers to purchase a smaller quantity of shares from the same company at higher, open-market prices so that a targeted price could be hit. Lauer allegedly would then falsely value the firm’s securities at higher closing prices. Prosecutors said this would artificially inflate the investment returns of the funds, resulting in lucrative fees for fund officials as new investors were drawn in. Lauer was also accused of creating bogus portfolios of the securities that Lancer Group held and getting falsely inflated appraisals of the shell companies. He and others allegedly made over $40 million.

In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission was granted summary judgment in its civil case against Lauer over related alleged misconduct. The court ordered him to pay about $62 million in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest. That securities fraud case is under appeal.

Lauer has always maintained that it was a shady consultant that damaged the hedge fund. Also acquitted of related criminal charges was Lancer manager Martin Garvey.

Related Web Resources:
Lancer Group Founder Michael Lauer Acquitted of Stock Fraud in Hedge Funds, Bloomberg, April 27, 2011

Lancer Founder Wins Acquittal, Hedgefund.net, April 27, 2011

Michael Lauer to Pay More Than $62 Million in Hedge Fund Fraud Case, SEC, May 8, 2009

More Blog Posts:
Juno Mother Earth Asset Management LLC and Its Founders Face SEC Securities Fraud Lawsuit Over Alleged $1.8M Looting of Hedge Fund Assets, Institutional Investors Securities Blog, March 23, 2011

Trueblue Strategies LLC Owner Settles SEC Charges that He Hid Investor Trading Losses in Hedge Fund Case, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, December 18, 2010

Allegations Against Goldman Sachs in $56M Securities Fraud Lawsuit Meet Morrison Standard, Says Australian Hedge Fund, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, September 14, 2010

Juno Mother Earth Asset Management LLC and Its Founders Face SEC Securities Fraud Lawsuit Over Alleged $1.8M Looting of Hedge Fund Assets

Published on: March 23, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a securities fraud complaint accusing Juno Mother Earth Asset Management LLC and its founders Arturo Rodriguez and Eugenio Verzilli of looting over $1.8 million in assets from a hedge fund.

The two hedge fund managers allegedly used the assets to cover Juno’s operating expenses, including rent, payroll, entertainment, and travel. They also are accused of submitting false SEC filings, including telling the SEC that it managed $40 million more than what it in fact did.

The SEC says that Juno’s partners falsely claimed that they had placed $3 million of their own capital in a client fund, when in fact, they never used their own money. In addition to selling securities in client brokerage and commodity accounts, Juno allegedly directed 41 separate transfers of cash to Juno’s bank account and made false claims that they were expense reimbursements for costs incurred on the client fund’s behalf. Rodriguez and Verzilli then issued false promissory notes to cover up the fraud and make it seem as if the fund had invested money in Juno.

The SEC further contends that the three defendants marketed investments in the Juno fund but did not reveal that the hedge fund advisor was having financial problems. When offering and selling the securities, Juno would misrepresent and inflate its assets, even claiming at one point that it was managing up to $200 million.

The government is trying to crack down on hedge fund managers who make it appear as if they’ve invested more personal money than what they’ve actually put in. The agency is seeking disgorgement plus prejudgment interests, permanent injunctions, and civil monetary penalties.

Related Web Resources:
SEC Charges Two Hedge-Fund Managers, The Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2011

Read the SEC Complaint (PDF)

More Blog Posts:

3 Hedge Funds Raided by FBI in Insider Trading Case, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 3, 2010