Greenwood

Former Money Manager Defrauds Investors of $800-$900 Million

Filed under: Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Former Money Manager Admits to Defrauding Investors of $800-900 Million

Former money manager Paul Greenwood, 62, pleaded guilty in late July to securities fraud, admitting that he cheated charities, schools, pension funds, and others out of $800-$900 million, even using some of those funds to buy collectible Steiff Teddy Bears and invest in horses. He faces up to 85 years in prison and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. Sentencing is set for December 1, 2010, and an auction to sell the Teddy Bears and other "collectibles" is expected later this year.

Greenwood, a hedge fund manager and the general partner of WG Trading Co., pleaded guilty to six charges including conspiracy and securities fraud and is cooperating with the United States against co-defendant Steven Walsh, who pleaded not guilty. Greenwood and Walsh, his fellow manager of WG Trading and WG Investors, were indicted last July on charges that they conspired to defraud investors of $554 million. The U.S. said the scheme stretched from 1996 until their arrest in February 2009.

Greenwood said he entered into the conspiracy with Walsh and that the two claimed they had an "index arbitrage fund" that promised institutional investors high returns. He and Walsh took out money for their personal use, "in excess of $75 million," he said, spending the money on "a house, a horse farm [that previously was owned by Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward], and antiques."

According to the plea agreement, Greenwood will have to forfeit at least $331 million to the government, representing the money he and Walsh allegedly obtained as a result of their securities and wire fraud. Greenwood also agreed to pay the U.S. an $83.5 million judgment, the proceeds he "personally obtained" as a result of the fraud.

The case is U.S. v. Greenwood, 09-cr-722, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Read the full story, as reported by Bloomberg, here.

Tags: crimes, fraud, Greenwood, indictments, Paul Greenwood, theft