David Bergstein and co-defendant Keith Wellner were arrested in California and New York respectively, according to the FBI. Bergstein is the chief executive of private equity firm Cyrano Group Inc. while Wellner is the former chief operating officer and general counsel of Weston Capital Asset Management, an advisory firm.
Prosecutors claimed the defendants allegedly defrauded Weston’s hedge fund investors by devising a plan to hide details about transactions that involved their funds. Bergstein and Wellner transferred money from one group of Weston investors to pay another. According to the indictment, they also used millions of investor dollars for their own benefit.
Bergstein and Wellner could face from five to 20 years in prison, in addition to hefty fines ranging from $10,000 to $5 million per offense. Wellner is a repeat offender who was prohibited from working in the securities industry after previously settling fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bergstein’s movie credits as executive producer include the 2004 comedy “The Whole Ten Yards” and 2015 film “In the Heart of the Sea.” Five of his movie companies went bankrupt in 2010, according to court records.
The post Hollywood movie producer arrested in New York securities fraud case first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet sentenced Owen Li, the founder of Canarsie Capital LLC, to probation. The judge earlier indicated that he was likely to give Li a five-year prison sentence, which was in line with the recommendations of prosecutors and less than the sentence advised by federal guidelines. The judge reconsidered, saying that Li had done “all a human being could do” to “clean up the tragedy” and take responsibility for his crimes.
In December, Li pleaded guilty to securities fraud and making a false statement. Over a period of three weeks in January 2015, Li lost nearly all of the $57 million in investments that he was overseeing, after moving most of the portfolio into market index options whose value collapsed soon afterwards. Prosecutors said that Li misled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and overstated the performance of the fund to investors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ferrara said that Li showed “exceptional” cooperation, but a prison term would still be justified as a deterrent to others.
Securities fraud charges can be complex and may involve related investigations by multiple agencies. Anyone accused of financial crimes needs representation by an attorney with extensive experience in these matters.
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