Hedge Fund Fraud

SSEK Investigates Claims That Charles Schwab Recommended Advisory Firms Market Vida Longevity Fund To Customers

Published on: July 19, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Charles Schwab Should Have Known RIAs Were Promoting the Fund

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is looking into losses suffered by Vida Longevity Fund, LP investors. Many investors were recommended this open-ended hedge fund by Creative Planning, Pin Oak Investment Advisors, or other registered investment advisors (RIAs) that Charles Schwab Corporation referred them to.

While it is not uncommon for Schwab to recommend RIAs to clients, the broker-dealer either knew or should have known that these firms were marketing the Fund to customers.

Bank Losses From Archegos Collapse Exceed $10B After UBS and Morgan Stanley Report $861M and $911M Losses, Respectively

Published on: May 5, 2021 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

More Fallout From Hedge Fund’s Sell-Off

A month after Archegos Capital Management (Archegos), a hedge fund and the family office of Bill Hwang, liquidated more than $30 Billion in equities when banks ordered it to post more collateral after borrowing on margin, news about the fallout continues.

UBS Group has finally disclosed that it lost $861 Million as a result of exposure to Archegos. Morgan Stanley also recently announced that it sustained $644 Million in losses from a “credit event” and $267 Million in related trading involving Archegos.

Brokers Who Sold Vida Longevity Fund Investments May Have Made Misrepresentations and Omissions

Published on: October 12, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investors Lose Money After VLF Hedge Fund Loses Value

If you are someone who has suffered significant losses from investing in the Vida Longevity Fund, LP (VLF), you may have a reason for pursuing an investment fraud case against the broker or financial advisor that sold you this investment.

Unfortunately, this open-ended hedge fund, which is a Delaware limited partnership that invests primarily in longevity-contingent assets, including senior life settlements, has experienced a substantial decline in value. The market turbulence created by COVID-19 earlier this year didn’t help.

Platinum Partners Principal Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Published on: May 23, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Murray Huberfeld, a Platinum Partners principal, has pleaded guilty to allegations that he was involved in a wire fraud conspiracy. However, he has not admitted a guilty plea to related to an alleged $1B scam involving his hedge fund.

Huberfeld admitted to misleading his hedge fund when he falsely claimed that a $60K payment was to pay for Knicks tickets when, in truth, it was a bribe to ex-New York City jail union boss Norman Seabrook to invest pension cash.

The money had been issued to fixer Jona Rechnitz. She has since turned government witness in a number of federal corruption probes. The bribe resulted in the Correction Officers Benevolent Association investing $20M in Platinum.

Massachusetts Hedge Fund Manager Sentenced to Prison for Investor Fraud

Published on: May 3, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Yasuna Murakami, a hedge fund manager who oversaw MC2 Capital Management LLC And MC2 Canada Capital Management LLC, is sentenced to six years in prison for fraud. Prosecutors accused him of defrauding hedge fund investors. Additionally, Murakami, must pay over $10.5M in investor restitution.

Police arrested the Massachusetts hedge fund manager last year. When pleading guilty to wire fraud, Murakami acknowledged that he diverted millions of dollars in investor monies to his own personal and business accounts, as well as used their funds to pay for a luxury sports car, make credit card payments, travel abroad, make purchases at expensive department stores, initiate investments on his own behalf, and issue Ponzi-like payments to investors.

Yasuna Murakami and Former Business Partner Were Working Together to Defraud Investors

SEC Stops Alleged $5.3M Hedge Fund Fraud Involving Willow Creek Advisors

Published on: February 5, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed securities fraud charges against Nicholas Joseph Genovese. The regulator contends that the purported hedge fund manager and his Willow Creek Advisors LLC misappropriated at least six investors’ money to pay for securities trading in his own brokerage account. Now, the SEC wants a temporary restraining order to freeze assets and stop further alleged violations.

According to the Commission’s complaint, Genovese misrepresented his previous experience in the securities industry and as a money manager, as well as the size of his business, including, that he:

· Oversaw $4B of the assets belonging to the Genovese Drug Store family.

· Ran Willow Creek Investments LP with $30B-$39B of assets under management when that figure was closer to less than $10M.

· Falsely stated that he and Willow Creek Advisors employed up to 60 people when the reality was closer to under 10.

· Claimed that his hedge fund made 30-40% investment gains annually when losses where what were actually incurred.

· Hid is criminal history, including, according to news sources, past convictions for forgery and grand larceny.

· Did not tell investors he previously filed for bankruptcy.

· Touted an education and professional history that he’d fabricated, including that he was a former Goldman Sachs (GS) partner and an ex-Bear Stearns portfolio manager, as well as had earned an MBA from Dartmouth.

Securities Fraud: CFP Board Suspends California Investment Adviser for Bilking Professional Athletes, SEC Orders Israeli-Based Firm to Pay $1.7M for Misleading Investors About Binary Options, and Ex-Movie Producer is Accused of Bilking Hedge Fund Investors

Published on: November 16, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investment Adviser Who Bilked Pro Athletes Gets CFP Board Suspension
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has issued a temporary suspension against Ash Narayan. The California-based investment adviser is accused of bilking professional athletes of millions of dollars.

Narayan was recently named in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint. In June, the regulator accused him of misrepresenting his professional qualifications and misappropriating client monies when he allegedly siphoned funds from investors’ accounts and invested the money in Ticket Reserve, a flailing online sports and entertainment ticket business.

Narayan is accused of moving $33M of investor funds to the company and did not tell the athletes that he was a member of Ticket Reserve’s board, owned stock in the company, and was paid a $2M in finder’s fees for making the investments. The CFP Board called the investments “unsuitable” and not in line with clients’ objectives. The board also noted that some of the investments were made without client consent or knowledge.

SEC Charges Already-Barred Hedge Fund Manager With Fraud

Published on: July 23, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

45 years after the Securities and Exchange Commission barred Thomas D. Conrad Jr. from the industry, the SEC has filed hedge fund fraud charges against the 85-year-old Georgia man and his 55-year –old son. According to the regulator, Thomas and Stuart P. Conrad bilked investors in a $10.7M hedge fund in which the older Conrad was the primary supervisory. Also facing SEC charges are the Conrads’ unregistered advisory firms: Financial Management Corporation S.R.L. and Financial Management Corporation.

In its complaint, the SEC said that Thomas generally suspended investor payouts for over four years even though he kept issuing payouts to his son, himself, other relatives, and certain investors. The payouts included $2.3M in redemptions and monies to his wife and himself between ’10 and ’14, as well as approximately $444K to his son.

The Commission said that Thomas violated federal securities law when he didn’t tell investors that he had been barred from the industry over a disciplinary matter in 1971. Offering documents, however, spoke about Thomas’s extensive securities industry experience.

SEC Judge Orders Two Investment Advisers to Pay Over $6.3M Related to Bernard Madoff-Linked Hedge Funds

Published on: January 9, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge says that investment advisers Larry Grossman and Gregory Adams must pay over $6.3M in restitution and fines for misleading clients who invested in hedge funds tied to Ponzi fraud mastermind Bernie Madoff. Administrative law judge Brenda Murray issued her ruling last month.

The two investment advisers are Sovereign International Asset Management founder Larry Grossman and Gregory Adams, who agreed to buy Sovereign from Grossman in 2008. The firm filed for bankruptcy four years later.

Per the SEC administrative complaint, Grossman did not know that the two hedge funds that he primarily recommended to clients were linked to Madoff. The Commission contends that Grossman violated his fiduciary duties to his clients when he neglected to conduct due diligence on the funds, which were run by a man named Nickolai Battoo. Grossman also purportedly did not notify clients that he was getting paid $3.4 million in consulting fees and referral money for recommending certain funds. After Grossman sold Sovereign to Adams, the former owner continued working in several capacities at the firm and never actually told clients that the sale even happened.