New York lawyer charged with stealing millions from hedge funds

By Ron • December 10th, 2008

A prominent New York lawyer has been charged in a $100 million (£75 million) hedge fund fraud scheme in which he allegedly tricked his way into businesses so he could hold meetings in their boardrooms.

By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 12:27AM GMT 10 Dec 2008

Marc Dreier, 58, whose clients have included the rock star Jon Bon Jovi, took advantage of the financial crisis by selling fake debt to hedge fund managers looking for investment opportunities, say prosecutors.

In what the Securities and Exchange Commission called a “stunning, brazen fraud that targeted some very sophisticated institutional investors”, he is charged with stealing $113 million since October, including $100 million from two hedge funds.

He allegedly hoodwinked hedge fund executives by meeting them in the offices of various businesses, including a property company and a pension fund, where he had no right to be.

Mr Dreier also provided the hedge funds with fake financial statements, audits and letters on the stationery of the New York property company that was supposedly issuing the debt.

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