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National "Rich Guys Steal Stuff" Week

Earlier this week the story made the rounds of the low-rent venture capital guy who allegedy duped Kodak. That story, while interesting in a tawdry sort of way, pales beside this one: Alberto Vilar, president and founder of Amerindo Investments, has been arrested and charged with stealing $5-million from a client.

Check this: Vilar, a former poster-boy for running technology-centric funds, is the 327th-richest American in the country, with a reported net worth of $950-million in December 2004. His Amerindo has fallen 17% this year, but as of the middle of last year it ran $1.2-billion. And now he needs to loot an investor for $5-million in mad money?

The mind boggles at the incongruity, but here is the complaint as paraphrased by Bloomberg:

Federal prosecutors said in a complaint unsealed today that Vilar ... used an investor's money to make contributions to Washington & Jefferson College, his alma mater, and to pay for a catering service and dishwasher repair.

The unnamed investor's $5 million was used by Vilar in 2002 "as a personal piggy bank to pay personal expenses and make charitable contributions, without the knowledge, consent, or authorization of the victim," U.S. Postal Inspector Cynthia Fraterrigo said in the complaint.

Ah, if only he had asked.

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