An $11 million scam promoting phony access to IPO shares of Facebook and Groupon Inc
The temptation of white collar crime and the big numbers involved seemed to have been too much for John Mattera, who ran the Praetorian Global Fund, to handle. The fund manager, registered in the British Virgin Islands, spent nearly $4 million of the misappropriated money on personal expenses, including leasing luxury cars, buying jewelry, paying personal taxes and settling a private civil fraud lawsuit, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Mattera, 50, was arrested at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by Internal Revenue Service agents. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that it also filed civil charges against Mattera and several of his associates. To no one’s surprise, Mattera’s lawyer, Carl Schoeppl, could not immediately be reached for comment. According to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, Mattera made an initial appearance in federal court in Florida.
The criminal complaint charged Mattera with securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted on charges involving false representations including those about Groupon, the daily deals website, social-networking company Facebook, and others.
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