投资者律师博客纽约投资顾问收取1900万美元的庞氏骗局
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Michael Scronic, a New York-based investment adviser accused of defrauding retail investors in a$19M Ponzi scam。According to the regulator, beginning in 2010, Scronic raised funds from 42 friends and acquaintances for a “risky options trading strategy” involving the Scronic Macro Fund, a fictitious hedge fund in which he was supposedly selling shares. Many of the investors he approached were from the community where he lives. Their investments ranged from $23K to $2.4M.
SEC辩称，Scronic向他们撒谎，说明他的投资记录记录，声称他在吹捧他所销售的投资是液体且易于赎回的悠久历史。实际上，声称委员会声称，由于巨大的交易损失，投资者的资金流失了。
Scronic is accused of not segregating the funds according to investor and transferring their money into his personal brokerage account. His investment agreements with investors stipulated that their funds would be placed in a hedge fund, in which he would serve as acting investment adviser, and he would send them quarterly reports. Scronic also noted in these agreements that he had a fiduciary obligation to investors and would comply with all state and federal laws.
The hedge fund was supposed to invest in the options market and charge a 1% of assets under management fee. Investors were supposed to be able to redeem their investments within three business days. Instead, Scronic invested in high risky options on futures contracts and equity and index options using his own account, as well as investors’ money.
The SEC is reporting at least $15M in investment losses. However, for the period ending on June 30, which is when Scronic told investors that there were assets of at least $21.8M, the balance in his brokerage account was actually less than $27,500. The SEC said that between April 2010 and August 2017, Scronic lost 88% of net investor deposits through trading losses and had suffered 79 losses in 89 months.
当一些投资者试图赎回他们的投资时，据称Scronic并没有告诉他们他无法偿还。相反，他给了他们“难以置信的借口”。他试图从新的和较早的投资者那里获得更多资金，以满足其中一些赎回请求。
This week, prosecutors in New York charged Scronic in a parallel criminal case with wire fraud andsecurities fraud。They claim that he spent $2.9M of investor funds on his own expenses, including $180K a year on country club membership, beach fees, credit cards, and mortgage payments for a Vermont vacation home. Among the excuses authorities say that he gave investors for why he could not redeem their investments as promised, Scronic purportedly attributed the lack of redemptions to a relative’s health issue, a vacation, and a new quarterly redemption policy.
Previously, Scronic worked at Morgan Stanley (MS).
Unfortunately, fraud does happen in which the person bilking the investor is a friend, family member, or trusted community member. This type of fraud has been called affinity fraud.
AtShepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP，我们代表因由于securities fraud。联系我们investment adviser fraud law firmtoday.