New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge fund manager Ray M. White and his company, CRW Management, LP, have been charged today by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of swindling at least $10.9 million from over 250 investors through an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The complaint alleges that the Mansfield, Texas-based White, told investors their funds would be traded in the forex market and the strategy would reap returns of up to 416 percent annually. 

Instead, White and CRW pocketed millions of dollars to fund a rampant spending spree which included homes, cars, Dallas Stars season tickets and the sponsorship of a drag racing team.

Out of the $10.9 million in initial capital they received, White and CRW used only $94,000 for forex trades.  Ponzi schemes cease to work when new money coming in dries up; preventing the manager from paying back "returns" to anymore existing investors.

Christopher White and Hurricane Motorsports, LLC are also named by the CFTC as recipients of a portion of these funds in which they are not entitled to.  

In the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Judge Ed Kinkeade set the next hearing for March 11, while freezing assets and permitting the CFTC to seize records.

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

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Reuters - The investment banks and global hedge funds that are the usual buyers of debt and equity in struggling Asian companies have largely fled the market, leaving the distressed asset space to home-grown investors.

Local players with the cash — and the stomach — to remain in the hunt for cheap assets find themselves with the luxuries of time, choice and pricing power.

"We’re just taking our time and doing our homework, because a lot of the traditional buyers are not in the market," said Chris Gradel, managing partner at Hong Kong-based Pacific Alliance Group, which runs $1.6 billion (1 billion pounds) in hedge funds.

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge fund fraudster Salman Shariff has been sentenced to 57 months behind bars, years after swindling millions from trusting investors. 

The Miami-based funds raked in almost $11 million from 1998 to 2001, while Shariff afforded himself all of the luxuries indigenous to South Florida, including an oceanfront South Beach condo, a Ferrari Testarossa and a 43-foot yacht.  Shariff also purchased a modeling agency and gave it to his girlfriend to run.

 Shariff had admitted guilt at his plea hearing earlier this summer.  The ponzi-like scheme took place within several funds, including Vestron Investment Club and Crescent Capital. 

Ponzi-schemes are commonly found in cases of hedge fund fraud.  They involve using new capital coming in to pay “returns” to existing investors.  Investors are usually duped into thinking the fund is posting admirable returns, when in fact, the fund is probably suffering. 

Shariff admitted to exaggerating the performance of his funds in order to present them in a favorable light.  When the fund was experiencing sharp losses, Shariff claimed it was posting returns between 58 and 86 percent.

Shariff had been on the run until February, when FBI agents tracked him down in Queens.  In addition to his sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Federico A. Moreno insisted on an extra three years of supervised release.

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!
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