SEC AND CFTC OBTAIN ASSET FREEZE AGAINST HEDGE FUND AND ITS ADVISER

Special from Jay B. Gould and Zeeshan A. Ahmedani, White & Case, LLP

WASHINGTON, D.C. (HEDGECO.NET) – On September 1, 2004, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the �SEC�) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the �CFTC�) simultaneously filed an action in the federal district court in Chicago and obtained an order of relief against Charles L. Harris, Tradewinds International II, LP, and Tradewinds International, L.L.C. (collectively, the �Defendants�) for fraud under the federal securities and commodities laws.

According to the complaint, the Defendants fraudulently raised at least $10 million from at least 30 investors for Tradewinds II, a hedge fund and a commodity pool, since July 2001, and that the Defendants made false and misleading statements to investors regarding Tradewinds II’s past rates of return, net asset value, and the use of investor funds. The SEC and CFTC further alleged that, in July 2004, Harris sent certain investors e-mails and a DVD in which he confessed that he had falsely reported a 12% annual profit to investors in Tradewinds II for 2003, when in reality, Tradewinds II lost a significant amount of money. Harris also claimed to have fled the country and to have taken the remaining investor assets offshore.

The government alleged that, while Harris told investors in 2003 that Tradewinds II’s net asset value was between $18 and $23 million, trading account statements reflect a total value of at most $1.1 million during 2003, and approximately $30,000 at the end of the year. The complaint also alleged that, contrary to representations to investors, Harris used investor funds for purposes other than trading and in 2003 and 2004, at least $2.4 million of investor funds were never transferred to the trading accounts, but were used instead for Harris’ personal and business expenses and to repay investors at artificially inflated rates, while Tradewinds II secretly incurred losses.