Money Manager Nadel Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

Arthur Nadel, the Florida-based hedge fund manager accused of ripping off investors in a massive Ponzi scheme, has just been indicted by a U.S. grand jury on charges of investment fraud totally about $360 million.

The indictment includes 15 charges against Nadel, who has remained behind bars at the Manhattan Correctional Center in New York City on $5 million bail since January 2009. Nadel worked out of Sarasota, Florida but he is being prosecuted in New York because he traded funds through a brokerage there, officials said.

Nadel was president of Scoop Management and managed funds including the Viking IRA, Valhalla Investment Partners LP, Viking, Victory, Victory IRA, and Scoop Real Estate. Nadel managed some funds with his business partners Neil and Chris Moody.

In January, just days before he was due to make a $50 million payout to investors, Nadel disappeared. He remained on the lam for several weeks, leaving behind a purported suicide note, but he later turned himself in to federal agents to face charges.

Nadel previously faced securities and wire fraud charges which could have brought up to 40 years in prison.

Nadel’s case has been compared to other notorious swindlers, including Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Madoff is facing a long prison sentence after admitting he ran the largest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history, netting about $65 billion. Stanford, the flamboyant Texas billionaire banker, and two of his top corporate officers have been accused in an $8 billion investment scheme run through his Stanford International Bank.

Nadel is the first of that trio to be indicted on charges of violating federal securities laws.

No related posts.