Paul 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

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 02/07/10

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--via Curbed, actress/TV producer Polly Draper and her husband Michael Wolff, a jazz pianist and composer who served as the bandleader on the Arsenio Hall Show, have listed their apartment at 43 Fifth Avenue on the market for $25 million.
--via the NY Observer, Texas-based restaurant kingpin Bradley Blum, CEO of Romano's Macaroni Grill, has bought a a pied-à-terre at 141 Fifth Avenue for $3.7 million.
--James P. Marden, the son of pharmacy mogul Bernard Marden, has picked up a townhouse in the West Village for $4.125 million. Bernard Marden father sold his home in Wainscott for $11.2 million last year. And his former wife just recently sold her own penthouse for $11.5 million.
-- Jennifer Scully-Lerner, a Goldman Sachs executive and top Obama fundraiser, and her husband, fellow financial exec Richard, have picked up a new apartment on Fifth Avenue for$3.575 million.
--New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse and his wife, Miriam Reinharth, have paid $1.1 million for a condo at 134 West 93rd Street.
--via the NY Observer, opera star Catherine Malfitano has sold her duplex loft at 79 Laight Street for $2.6 million.
--via Curbed, Courtney Love has been spotted checking out a West Village townhouse at 56 Bank Street that is listed at $5.998 million.
--Carol McFadden has closed on the sale of her penthouse at The Metropolitan on East 90th Street for $6.925 million.
Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner has given up his share in the Upper West Side townhouse that he shared with his ex-wife Jane. Property records show that Jane paid Jann $4 million for his share of the five-story townhouse at 37 West 70th Street.
--Guy Metcalfe, the co-head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group, and his wife, Lisa paid $6.125 million for a four-bedroom apartment at 90 Riverside Drive.
--via the New York Daily News, photographer Annie Leibovitz is trying to sell her 220-acre compound in Rhinebeck for $11 million. David Bowie and his wife, Iman recently toured the property.
--via the NY Observer, Vicki Rosen-Solomon, the widow of private equity executive Adam Solomon, has closed on the sale of her co-op at 956 Fifth Avenue for $12.5 million to David Herro, a Chicago-based investor.
--Marc Brown, the author and illustrator who created the Arthur series of books as well as the animated PBS show, and his wife Laura have dropped the price of their Tribeca townhouse to $9.995 million. It was once listed as high as $15.85 million.

Gallery: Marc Brown in Tribeca

--Rory Tahari, the wife of fashion mogul Elie Tahari, has sold two-bedroom loft at 72 Mercer Street for $3.2 million.
--David Bizer, a former Lehman Brothers exec, has relisted his 24th-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West for $7.495 million.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg has paid $35 million for a house in Beverly Hills, California.
--The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis house in Los Angeles has had a price cut to $10.5 million. It was originally put on the market last June for $15 million.

Gallery: The Ennis House

From the Real Estalker:
--Actress/rapper Eve has listed her Los Angeles home for $2.295 million. The listing is here.

Gallery: Eve In Los Angeles

--Celebrity photographer Timothy White has dropped the price on his light-filled loft at 448 West 37th Street. It is now listed for $4.495 million.

Gallery: Timothy White In NYC

From Move Trends:
--Actor Eddie Cibrian has listed his home in Calabasas, California. He is asking $2.349 million but he and soon-to-be ex-wife Brandi Glanville paid $2.5 million in 2008. Check out the listing pictures below, the master bedroom includes a stripper pole.

Gallery: Eddie Cibrian in Calabasas

--John Goodman's former 6 bedroom Los Angeles, CA home is listed for $1,998,000.

From ShelterPop:
Jennifer Aniston is showing off her new home in the pages of Architectural Digest.

Tags: ennis house, EnnisHouse, eve, frank lloyd wright, FrankLloydWright, jeffrey katzenberg, JeffreyKatzenberg, john dockery, JohnDockery, paul greenwood, PaulGreenwood, pete sampras, PeteSampras, polly draper, PollyDraper