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Reuters – New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, probing illegal marketing and sales of auction rate securities (ARS), is likely to file a lawsuit on Monday against Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW.O) for civil fraud, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
As a part of the lawsuit, Cuomo will likely present transcripts of recordings between Schwab brokers and customers that allegedly show how the ARS were misrepresented by brokers as easy-to-sell alternatives to cash, according to the paper.
Democrat and Chronicle – The former chairman of the state Liberal Party was accused Wednesday of receiving at least $800,000 from the state pension fund as a kickback for helping elect former Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Hevesi’s son.
Raymond B. Harding, who for decades was the face of the now-defunct party, was charged with multiple felonies in violation of the Martin Act, the state securities-fraud statute, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced.
Bloomberg – Barrett Wissman, a Dallas hedge fund manager, pleaded guilty to securities fraud as part of an investigation of corruption at New York’s $122 billion pension fund, state officials said.
Wissman, 46, an executive of HFV Asset Management LP, also agreed to a $12 million settlement as part of the probe of illegal kickbacks to arrange pension-fund investments for hedge funds and private-equity firms, according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Today, Cuomo announced charges against former New York State Liberal Party Chairman Ray Harding as part of the two-year-old investigation.
MSN MoneyCentral – A corruption scandal at the state’s retirement fund is the latest in a long string involving politically connected intermediaries called placement agents sometimes hired by investment firms hoping to land rich investment deals with pension officials, experts said.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining millions of dollars in payments that several hedge funds and private equity firms paid to placement agents during the tenure of state comptroller Alan Hevesi.
WSWS – New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday charged J. Ezra Merkin, a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager and former chairman of GMAC Financial Services, the financial arm of General Motors, with bilking investors out of $2.4 billion by funneling their money, without their knowledge, to convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff.
According to the civil complaint filed by Cuomo with the New York Supreme Court, Merkin collected $470 million in management and incentive fees over a fifteen-year period by claiming to be carefully managing the money his clients invested in his three hedge funds, while funneling the bulk of the funds to Madoff’s operation.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – J. Ezra Merkin, head of Gabriel Capital Corp., has been sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, after it was discovered he had placed investor’s money into funds managed by Bernard Madoff without their knowledge or consent.
Cuomo alleges that the former GMAC Financing Chairman allocated about $2.4 billion worth of client capital to the man who bilked $50 billion out of investors through an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
Cuomo claims Merkin invested the money of many prominent individuals and charities through his hedge funds Ariel, Gabriel Capital LP and Ascot Fund Limited. In exchange, Merkin received about $470 million in management and performance fees.
One investor, New York Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman, suffered $40 million in losses after placing his funds with Merkin.
“There is no way Merkin could make such a representation without learning basic facts about Madoff’s operation, including the fact that Madoff had not made any stock purchases for at least 13 years,” said Zuckerman in his statement, referring to Merkin’s claim that he exercised “periodic reviews” on his investments.
The Merkin case is the latest in a string of suits brought on by the Attorney General. Last month, Cuomo blew the lid off two high-ranking officials who worked in the New York State’s Comptroller Office after discovering they took millions of dollars in kickbacks from private equity firms and hedge funds.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Two high-ranking men who worked in the New York State comptroller’s office were arrested yesterday after it was discovered they took millions of dollars in kickbacks from private equity and hedge funds, said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
David Loglisci, who was the top investment officer of the state’s $122 billion pension fund, along with Henry Morris, who fund-raised for former comptroller Alan Hevesi, were nailed in a 123-count indictment, which included charges of money laundering, securities fraud and bribery.
It was discovered that over 20 transactions made by the pension fund involved kickbacks, with five of those coming from the renowned private equity fund The Carlyle Group.
Morris, who was released after posting a $1 million cash bail, allegedly received $13 million from The Carlyle Group, from investments that totaled $730 million.
“Morris used the fund as his own piggy bank and took approximately $30 million in fees for himself and his business partners on investments which Morris himself had a role in approving,” Cuomo said.
Lawyers for both men contend their clients are innocent, saying that all of the transactions benefited the pension fund and were agreed upon by outside financial institutions. The Carlyle Group has stated they have “fully cooperated with the New York Attorney General’s Office and is not a target of the investigation.”
If convicted, both men could face a life sentence in prison.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com
Newsday – A tough-talking President Barack Obama moved yesterday to block the $165 million in bonuses for American International Group executives that prompted a new wave of outrage at corporate America and taxpayer bailouts.
Despite the aggressive approach, it’s unclear whether he can get the payments back. But the White House said it would modify the terms of AIG’s pending $30-billion bailout installment to at least recoup the $165 million the bonuses represent. That wouldn’t rescind the bonuses, just require AIG to account for them differently.
Separately, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he will subpoena the names of AIG officials involved and copies of their employment contracts to determine whether the bonuses are legal, given the firm’s weak finances.
Manhattan-based AIG was saved from insolvency by $170 billion in taxpayer-backed loans – and reported a $61.7-billion loss in the fourth quarter last year. It revealed on the weekend that it used more than $90 billion in its federal aid to pay out banks, some of which had received their own U.S. government bailouts.
Reuters – Hedge fund founder Ezra Merkin is being cooperative with New York state’s top legal officer in its investigation of three funds as part of the probe into accused swindler Bernard Madoff, officials said on Wednesday.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is seeking information from Merkin and his Gabriel Capital Corp, Ariel Fund Ltd and Ascot Partners funds, Cuomo’s office said last month.
All of the funds have been sued by nonprofits and individual investors who accuse them of investing with Madoff without their knowledge.
TheStreet.com – Two contemporaries rushed to the defense of hedge fund manager Ezra Merkin, who is reportedly being investigated by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo after his investors lost billions of dollars linked to disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff.
William Ackman, who manages Pershing Square Capital, and Michael Steinhardt of Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co. both called Merkin, a partner at hedge funds Cerberus Capital, Gabriel Capital and Ascott Partners, an "honest" man at a panel discussion of Madoff Thursday night at the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research.
"I’ve known him for 15 years," Ackman said. "I think he’s an honest person, an intelligent person, an interesting person, a smart investor. People don’t want to hear that because if you invested with Ascot you lost all your money."
International Herald Tribune – J. Ezra Merkin, a New York financier, wrote his investors last month that he too was shocked by the news that Bernard Madoff’s hedge fund was an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
But not everyone sees him as a victim. The New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has issued subpoenas in an effort to determine whether Merkin had defrauded universities and charities when he invested their money with Madoff, a person with knowledge of the case said Thursday.
Cuomo’s office is seeking information from Merkin, the three investment funds that he operated and 15 nonprofit institutions that gave him money to manage. Many of the institutions are now suing Merkin, claiming that they lost millions of dollars when he had invested money with Madoff without telling them.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net)- BNP Paribas has appointed Thomas Mahala and Jason Miller to its global hedge fund relationship management team (HFRM). BNP Paribas now has over a dozen relationship management professionals located in New York, London and Hong Kong serving the interests of global hedge fund clients.
"We look forward to Tom and Jason, two senior and highly respected hedge fund relationship management professionals, joining the global effort." Talbot Stark said, "BNP Paribas’s hedge fund business has benefited from its expanding global capabilities, financial strength and most recent acquisition of Banc of America’s prime brokerage unit".
Thomas Mahala joins the team in New York; he joins Chris Lane as co-head of HFRM in the Americas. Thomas joins from Banc of America Securities where he worked most recently as a Managing Director and head of the Capital Introduction group. Prior to this role he worked as a senior relationship manager for institutional accounts including hedge funds. Previously, he spent 7 years at Bear Stearns as a senior relationship manager for hedge funds. Thomas joins BNP Paribas with over 23 years of experience and successes in relationship management, prime brokerage and risk management.
Jason Miller joins the New York team to work as a senior relationship manager. He joins from Banc of America where he most recently worked as a senior relationship manager for hedge fund clients. Prior to that, he spent two years at Credit Suisse as a relationship manager for institutional securities relationships. Jason brings 16 years of experience from Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Citigroup in relationship management. He reports to Chris Lane and Thomas Mahala.
In 2008, BNP Paribas was named ‘Structured Products House of the Year’ by Risk magazine and in 2007, was named ‘Equity Derivatives House of the Year’ also by Risk magazine‘. North American awards include ‘North American Structured Products House of the Year’ by Structured Products Magazine and ‘Best Equity Derivatives house in North America’ by Global Finance magazine.
BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment banking division has almost 16,000 employees, deployed in 53 countries around the world.
Editing by Alex Akesson Editor for HedgeCo LLC Email: alex@hedgeco.net
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