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December 11, 2008

Fund Management Fraud: Canadians Get in on the Action

Not to break the Bernie Madoff news cycle here, but another fund management fraud came to my attention today. This one's from Canada, and it is truly bizarre.

Here is the gist: According to a complaint filed by the Ontario Securities Commission, a Canadian hedge fund manager running $53-million -- who had been posting stellar commodities returns, despite the commodities collapse -- turns out to have obtained those returns by putting his fund's assets into two Luxembourg companies that own rights to glaciers in Iceland. Neither company had revenues (or profits), but, according to the complaint, the hedge fund manager had marked them up regularly all the same, thus producing lovely and eye-pleasing returns for investors.

The twist -- and you knew this was coming -- is that the Canadian hedge fund manager (who now mostly lives in Iceland, despite his fund being out of Toronto) allegedly had a significant stake in the companies when his fund bought their shares. But of course he did.

Deranged. Truly deranged.

There is a news story here, and the OSC complaint is here.

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