New York (HedgeCo.Net) – The SEC has announced an asset freeze against a Massachusetts-based investment adviser charged with stealing money from clients who were given the false impression they were investing in a hedge fund.

The SEC also says that Gregg D. Caplitz and Insight Onsite Strategic Management in Wilmington, Mass., raised at least $1.1 million from clients that was used for purposes other than investing in the hedge fund they purported to manage. Investor money was merely transferred to the firm’s chief investment officer and other members of her family who spent it on personal expenses. The firm reported in SEC filings that it has $100 million in assets under management, however the purported hedge fund actually has no assets.

Instead of using investor funds to purchase shares in a hedge fund or to manage or develop a hedge fund, Caplitz transferred control of client money to Rosalind Herman, his friend who works at the firm, the SEC says.

The SEC alleges that as part of his scheme, Caplitz obtained funds from a real estate investment trust (REIT) by falsely representing that a hedge fund he operated was interested in making an investment in that trust. The public, non-traded REIT gave $135,000 to Caplitz so he could conduct due diligence on the REIT as a precursor to his making a $5 million investment that never materialized.