North Country Gazette – The brother of the former chief financial officer of the bankrupt hedge fund firm Bayou Group LLC has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison of his role in concealing a $400 million fraud.

Matthew Marino, brother of Daniel Marino, was also ordered to pay $60 million in restitution.

Prosecutors say that Marino knew about the fraud on the investors in the now-collapsed Bayou Hedge Funds and took steps to conceal it. His brother is serving 20 years for the scheme as is Bayou co-founder Samuel Israel.

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Texas Resident George D. Hudgins must pay $71 million following a federal court order obtained by the CFTC, to pay back victims of his Ponzi scheme and to settle a $15 million penalty.

According to the original complaint, Hudgins swindled about $88 million from June 2001 to May 2008, in a commodity pool operation that was supposed to trade futures and options.  Hudgins told investors that his fund was reaping returns of up to 99 percent annually, when in reality, the pool had experienced a net loss since its inception in December 2003, and had lost a total of about $28 million.

In typical Ponzi scheme fashion, Hudgins used about $17 million from the pool to pay “returns” to existing investors and keep up the façade.  In addition, he doctored the account statements to reflect a stellar performance.  Other funds from the pool were withdrawn by Hudgins to pay for his extravagant lifestyle, which included Tiffany jewelry, antique sports cars, real estate and a plane.

When a judge froze the assets of Hudgins and appointed a receiver to distribute the funds, only $24 million was collected.

Last September, Hudgins pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.  He was sentenced last month to serve 121 months in a federal prison.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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