Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Bloomberg – Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, accused of misleading investors, said “We could blow up” in a 2006 e-mail, according to documents released by prosecutors.
Tannin, 47, is set to go on trial Oct. 13 for securities fraud with fellow ex-manager Ralph Cioffi, 53. In a message with the subject title ‘Thoughts” that Tannin sent to himself on Nov. 23, 2006, he said was “stressed” about his work at the fund.
“I became very worried very quickly,” Tannin wrote in the e-mail. “Credit is only deteriorating. I was worried that this would all end badly and that I would have to look for work.”
CNN Money – Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, both former hedge fund managers at Bear Stearns, are accused of painting a rosy picture of their portfolios, even though “the defendants believed that the funds were in grave condition and at risk of collapse,” according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors blamed Cioffi and Tannin for causing Bear Stearns investors to lose more than $1 billion, alleging that their fraudulent behavior led to the collapse of their hedge funds and, subsequently, Bear Stearns. They have both pleaded not guilty and are out on bail: $4 million for Cioffi and $1.5 million for Tannin.
The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 13 in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. Cioffi and Tannin could each face 20 years if convicted of securities fraud.
The Examiner – The Maryland attorney general’s office says it has won a $9.5 million judgment against the operator of several former hedge funds.
The judgment was granted in Prince George’s County Circuit Court against John Henry Williams.
In February 2007, the securities division of the attorney general’s office and Williams entered into a consent order that found that Williams had committed securities fraud.
New York — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision that dismissed a securities fraud case against New York-based hedge fund investment adviser Hennessee Group LLC. In the 36-page opinion issued July 14, 2009, the Second Circuit upheld in its entirety the August 2007 ruling by Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that dismissed claims of breach of contract and securities fraud in South Cherry Street, LLC. v. Hennessee Group. All of South Cherry’s arguments on the appeal were found to be without merit.
The claims were in connection with Hennessee’s investment advice regarding Bayou Management’s hedge funds that were uncovered as part of a large Ponzi scheme, for which Bayou’s principals were found guilty of securities fraud in 2005.
“We are delighted with the Second Circuit’s decision that finds all claims of breach of contract and securities fraud against Hennessee are without merit. Bayou’s Ponzi scheme caused many unfortunate events, but the Court’s decision establishes that Hennessee was not a participant on any level,” said Bennett Falk, Hennessee’s trial counsel and a partner in the securities litigation and regulatory practice group in the Florida office of Bressler, Amery and Ross, P.C.
Reuters – Hedge fund Citadel Investment Group claims it is owed $470.5 million on derivatives contracts it held with Lehman Brothers, according to a claim filed in a New York bankruptcy court last week.
Citadel, which manages around $12 billion in assets, claims it is owed the money in its Citadel Equity Fund. The filing said the claim was at least partly based on a guarantee, but did not give details.
Daily Telegraph – The funds collapsed as billions of dollars of bets made on mortgage-backed bonds and collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) unravelled, and when the time came to try to sell some of the funds’ sub-prime mortgages, no one wanted to buy them.
At the centre of those funds sat two men – hedge fund manager Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, the chief operating officer of Bear Stearns Asset Management (BSAM) – who were arrested a year later and charged with several counts of wire and securities fraud, following the loss of $1.4bn of investors’ money.
They face possible 20-year prison sentences, though both have consistently pleaded their innocence. The case against them will be set out at a trial slated to start in October. It centres on emails between the two – and with investors – in which both funds were referred to as "an awesome opportunity", despite allegations that both men knew of the problems within them.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – The family of a Cambria County manufacturer has filed a lawsuit claiming that a New York hedge-fund manager illegally took $750,000 from its trust fund.
The lawsuit, filed by the family of Frank Calandra Jr., was moved to federal court yesterday. It names as defendants Signature Bank Corp. and Cushner & Garvey LLP.
The man the family accuses of taking its money, Edward T. Stein, is not a named defendant.
Mr. Stein was charged with securities fraud in federal court in Manhattan in April. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Stein operated a Ponzi scheme involving some $55 million collected from investors.
Bloomberg – Hedge fund manager Mark Bloom pleaded guilty to U.S. charges that he stole at least $20 million from clients and lied to them, and that he helped sell illegal tax shelters while working earlier at BDO Seidman LLP.
Bloom, who lives in New York City, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Manhattan to five charges including securities fraud. He admitted he stole millions from investors in North Hills Fund, an investment partnership with more than $30 million in assets that he managed. He agreed to forfeit as much as $20 million and to cooperate with prosecutors in their continuing investigation.
HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s decision that also dismissed a securities fraud case against New York-based hedge fund investment adviser Hennessee Group LLC.
Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that dismissed claims of breach of contract and securities fraud in South Cherry Street, LLC. v. Hennessee Group. All of South Cherry’s arguments on the appeal were found to be without merit.
The claims were in connection with Hennessee’s investment advice regarding Bayou Management’s hedge funds that were uncovered as part of a large Ponzi scheme, for which Bayou’s principals were found guilty of securities fraud in 2005.
“We are delighted with the Second Circuit’s decision that finds all claims of breach of contract and securities fraud against Hennessee are without merit. Bayou’s Ponzi scheme caused many unfortunate events, but the Court’s decision establishes that Hennessee was not a participant on any level,” said Bennett Falk, Hennessee’s trial counsel and a partner in the securities litigation and regulatory practice group in the Florida office of Bressler, Amery and Ross, P.C.
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American Chronicle – A Los Angeles businessman has pleaded guilty to corruption charges in a pension fund scandal that began in New York and is heading west.
Julio Ramirez Jr.’s guilty plea to securities fraud, revealed Tuesday in New York, tightened the connection between that state’s scandal and the pension fund industry in California. The charges arise from Ramirez’s work as an unlicensed "placement agent" for Wetherly Capital Group of Los Angeles, a politically connected firm that has secured investment business from CalPERS and CalSTRS.
Minneapolis Star Tribune – A Prominent Manhattan lawyer has pleaded guilty to defrauding hedge funds of more than $400 million.
Fifty-eight-year-old Marc Dreier on Monday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The charges carry a potential prison term of 30 years to life in prison.
New York Daily News – Marc Dreier will plead guilty to all charges stemming from the $700 million investment fraud he is accused of carrying out, his lawyer said Monday.
Defense lawyer Gerald Shargel said Dreier will enter the plea May 11 to securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges. He wants to accept responsibility and show his remorse, Shargel said.
Until December, Dreier had led a law firm with 250 lawyers and celebrity clients, including Jay Leno and ex-New York Giants star Michael Strahan. He was arrested after hedge funds complained he was stealing from them.
