MARKET REFORM MOVEMENT-NSS/FTDS&RELATED ISSUES

[bartermania]

I don't think I've seen anyone else post this article yet:

Posted by: Alex Chory
In reply to: bartermania who wrote msg# 1175 Date:12/23/2005 5:38:40 AM
Post #of 1182

not sure if you saw this one, 29 year old wannabee trader,

must have been one of those newbies out of college, I seen that so much in my early years, they just wanted to get their
C's and get on with the entrepreneurial life....oh yeah!!!

tell me about it!
,,,,,$$$$$

Happy Holidays@XMAS
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SEC alleges hedge fund was a Ponzi scam

HACKENSACK, N.J. - A Montvale hedge fund that promised "low-risk day trading" was in fact a Ponzi scheme that stole $5.2 million from investors to pay for its executives' lavish lifestyles, authorities said.

The Securities Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges Wednesday against HMC International, its chief executive and a trader who once boasted of profits that let him take chartered jets, where he feasted on Cookie Crisp cereal.

According to the SEC, Chief Executive Officer Robert M. Massimi, 45, of Saddle River, and trader Bret A. Grebow, 29, of Highland Beach, Fla., raised about $12.9 million from some 80 investors starting in late 2001. They then sent out fake monthly statements showing that the fund was making enormous profits, the SEC said.

In fact, the SEC said, the fund did little trading, and Grebow was "systematically looting the fund's trading account," taking a total of about $2 million. In addition, the SEC said, Massimi took about $2.8 million for himself and Grebow out of fictitious fund "profits" that actually consisted of money from new investor accounts.

"There were no real profits," the SEC complaint said.

Tyrone McDonnell, a Hackensack attorney who is representing Massimi, blamed Grebow for any fraud. He said Massimi was actually a victim in the case, because he also invested in the fund.

"Mr. Massimi denies any wrongdoing, and we look forward to clearing his name," McDonnell said.

Grebow's attorney, Daniel S. Newman of Miami, declined to comment.

Grebow was quoted in The Wall Street Journal in February 2004 in a story about extravagant spending by stock market professionals. In the article, Grebow boasted about his new $160,000 Lamborghini Gallardo, and about taking chartered flights where he was served Jack Daniels and his favorite cereal, Cookie Crisp.

The SEC said Massimi promoted the fund by describing its traders as mathematicians who used "an incredible amount of technical research." In fact, the SEC said, Grebow was the only trader, and he does not have a college degree.

The SEC also alleged that in October, after Massimi discovered the fund was under investigation, he diverted $1.5 million to his wife, Jaime Elliott Massimi, to shield the money from authorities and investors. She is also named in the complaint.

The complaint also said that Massimi transferred his 50 percent ownership of a home in Upper Saddle River to his ex-wife, Jamie Massimi, in August, "as investor concern and demands for redemptions mounted."

The fund collapsed in September when it was unable to meet investors' demands for their money back, the SEC said.

A federal judge in U.S. District Court in New York froze the assets of HMC, Grebow, and Jaime and Robert Massimi Wednesday, at the SEC's request. The SEC is seeking to have the defendants disgorge any ill-gotten gains and pay civil penalties.

The SEC took action in New York because HMC was located in Manhattan before moving to Montvale in 2004.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/12/23/build/business/54-ponzi....