Interesting... Didn't want this one to get lost, so I'll post it here...
wire.ap.org
DECEMBER 17, 00:28 EST
Feds: Kickbacks Funded Lavish Life
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — A Harvard-educated pension fund manager took millions of dollars in kickbacks and then spent it lavishly on a lifestyle featuring 75 cars, multiple homes and gigantic credit card bills, federal authorities say.
Alan Brian Bond, 38, a frequent guest on the PBS program, ''Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser,'' conspired to collect kickbacks siphoned off the investment returns of about 25 clients, the government alleged Thursday.
Among those clients were the NBA's Players' Pension Plan and retirement funds of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the Ohio Police and Firemen's Disability Pension Board.
''Although Mr. Bond's clients were mostly pension funds, the victims are human,'' SEC Pacific Regional Director Valerie Caproni said. ''Mr. Bond's scheme affected the life savings and financial security of thousands of working people such as police officers, firefighters, teachers and bus drivers.''
Caproni said Bond managed more than $600 million for his clients, most of them union and government pension funds.
Bond, president and chief investment officer of the Manhattan-based Albriond Capital Management, was accused of using his discretionary control of client accounts to misdirect millions of dollars in brokerage business, according to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Between 1993 and 1998, Bond allegedly benefited illegally with help from Robert I. Spruill, a former securities broker with three companies who was charged by prosecutors with conspiracy and fraud.
The Harvard-educated Bond, of Upper Montclair, N.J., allegedly steered the money to Spruill's companies: Brenner Securities and Lintz Glover White & Co., both Manhattan firms, and to the Connecticut brokerage firm of Value Investing Partners Inc.
Spruill, 52, of Newark and others allegedly caused a substantial portion of commission revenues from Bond's clients to be funneled to Bond through payments to his credit cards and bank accounts.
Spruill pleaded innocent Thursday morning and was released on his own recognizance.
Bond's lawyer, John Siffert, said his client also would plead innocent, and added, ''We expect that he will be vindicated.''
Federal authorities alleged that Bond used the cash to build an opulent lifestyle which included 75 luxury and antique automobiles, a large home and beachfront condominium in Florida, and frequent shopping sprees to stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co.
In addition to the shopping trips, Bond spent several hundred thousand dollars remodeling and furnishing his homes and a warehouse to store his classic cars. His American Express bills ranged from $200,000 to $470,000 a month, authorities said.
Meanwhile, Bond allegedly spent some of the illicit payments to grease the hands of his pension fund clients, buying them limousine service, overnight stays in posh New York City hotels, expensive clothing and tickets to sports events.
In a separate case, the Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Bond and Spruill for fraud, alleging they made false statements to the SEC.
If convicted of conspiracy, investment advisory fraud, wire fraud, commercial bribery and making false certifications on forms filed with the SEC, Bond could face five years in jail on each of 11 counts plus substantial fines.
Spruill, if convicted, could face up to five years in prison on each of two counts plus substantial fines. |
