It’s a little depressing that there are so many Ponzi schemes to report. The bright spot I suppose is that the Securities and Exchange Commission is on the case. This week the SEC charged Moises Pacheco, Advanced Money Management, Inc. (AMM), and Business Development & Consulting Co. (BD&C) with fraudulently raising $14.7 million from more than 200 investors over a 3½-year period.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Pacheco told investors that he had developed a lucrative investment strategy involving the purchase and sale of covered call options, and that the hedge funds exclusively relied upon this strategy to generate trading profits …read more

Top New York officials have been charged with extracting millions of dollars in kickbacks from investment management firms seeking to manage the assets of New York’s largest pension fund.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Henry “Hank” Morris, the top political advisor and chief fundraiser for former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and David Loglisci, former Deputy Comptroller and Chief Investment Officer of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, orchestrated a fraudulent scheme from 2003 through late 2006 that corrupted the integrity of the New York State Common Retirement Fund in order to enrich Morris as well as others with …read more

The importance of understanding the sometimes smoky world of finance is illustrated in another story of finacial fraud this week. Lucky for these investors, this one has a happy ending.
Investors Win in Arbitration
Investors in the Apex Hedge fund offered by Associated Securities broker Jeffrey Forrest were awarded nearly $9 million in damages as the result of arbitration. Throughout 2005 and 2006 Forrest sold clients this “safe and secure” fund, which was actually a highly speculative hedge fund that engaged in risky options trading and was wiped out in 2007.
The investors were represented by Philip M. Aidikoff and Robert A. Uhl …read more