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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund manager Michael C. Regan was sentenced in a federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y. to seven years in prison for fraud.
Just last June, Regan settled charges with the SEC on another of his hedge funds, Regan and Regan & Co., which the SEC alleged, he fraudulently obtained at least $15.9 million and ultimately caused investors to lose at least $6.69 million through Regan’s misappropriation and trading losses. The settlement was closed without Regan admitting or denying the allegations.
When his hedge fund, River Stream Fund collapsed in April 2008 Regan turned himself in in May 2008 and pleaded guilty to one count of fraud the following month. He began the fund in 1998 with money from friends and acquaintances, according to the prosecution.
While Regan agreed to pay restitution, he filed for bankruptcy protection after turning himself in. The government said it is unlikely his victims will ever be compensated.
The SEC is also filing a civil suite. Regan could face additional criminal charges for failing to file tax returns for 10 years.
South Florida Business Journal – A federal court judge has ordered former hedge fund manager Michael Lauer to pay a $500,000 civil penalty.
The order was issued Aug. 17, but only announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission news release Wednesday.
The SEC had asked that Lauer be ordered to pay $1 million.
However, in deciding how much he should pay, Judge Kenneth A. Marra, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, recognized that Lauer has already been ordered to pay more than $62 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, and that he still faces criminal charges.
HeraldTribune.com – So much for Art Nadel’s high-profile legal team.
Nadel, the Sarasota money manager charged with running a $400 million investment scam, is now represented by a federal public defender after his private attorneys dropped him on Wednesday.
Prominent Tampa attorneys Barry Cohen and Todd Foster had defended Nadel against criminal charges since he turned himself in to the FBI on Jan. 27, two weeks after he left Sarasota as his hedge funds imploded.
Denver Post – The U.S. filed civil and criminal charges against New York hedge-fund manager Edward T. Stein, accusing him of running a "classic Ponzi scheme" that moved more than $55 million through accounts while preying on acquaintances.
Stein, who controls Gemini Fund I hedge fund, DISP LLC and Prima Capital Management Corp., moved millions from at least 83 investors through accounts he controlled, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – UBS AG will pay $200 million to settle the SEC charges that the Swiss Bank acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser.
According to the original compliant, UBS helped certain U.S. individuals to set up and maintain undisclosed Swiss bank accounts, which enabled these clients to evade U.S. taxes. In addition, UBS acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser from 1999 to 2008, to thousands of U.S. clients while holding billions of dollars in assets for them. UBS allegedly raked in profits of up to $140 million a year from this business.
“UBS avoided compliance with U.S. securities laws for many years, at the same time they were engaged in other illegal conduct, which makes this one of the most egregious cases of its kind," said Scott W. Friestad, Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in a recent press release.
The SEC alleges that UBS was fully aware that it was required to register with their agency. They believed that UBS lured clients by sending them to exclusive events such as art shows, yacht outings and sporting events, all sponsored by the bank. In addition, client advisors who traveled abroad to the U.S. were given encrypted laptops and were trained on how to avoid detection by authorities.
In addition to the $200 million fine, UBS will settle criminal charges with the Department of Justice in which they will pay an addition fine of $180 million, and another $400 million in tax-related payments.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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Seattle Post- Incriminating messages allegedly sent by two ex-Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund managers indicted on fraud charges that even sophisticated professionals disregard the dangers of putting sensitive information in e-mails, ex-prosecutors said.
Ralph Cioffi, 52, and Matthew Tannin, 46, were charged last week with misleading investors by saying two funds were thriving while knowing subprime-mortgage investments threatened their collapse. The indictments, the first relating to the subprime crisis, cited e-mails from both business and personal accounts describing looming problems. Investors in the funds ultimately lost $1.6 billion.
"It is pretty dumbfounding that people still use e-mail in such a casual way," said Carol Bruce, a former federal prosecutor now with law firm Bracewell & Giuliani in Washington. "But they do — and they will into the foreseeable future."
FOXBusiness- With record losses from the subprime and credit crisis veering towards the $400 bn mark, here come the market police.
In the crosshairs: Hedge funds, including the indictments of the two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers.
A senior law enforcement official said in an interview that hedge funds now sit at the top of the hit list of federal investigations into the subprime crisis, including at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Expect more announcements of hedge fund indictments in coming days, sources say.
