Celebrity Money
Manager Giacchetto
Charged With Theft
By Justin Dini
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com Staff
Reporter
4/3/00 2:42 PM ET
If nothing else, perhaps its name should have
warned potential clients that all was not right with
investment firm Cassandra Group and its owner.
Dana Giacchetto, the money manager who basked
in the glow of the stars of whose money he invested
, and his firm were charged Tuesday by federal
prosecutors with stealing at least $6 million from his
glittering list of celebrity investors.
Clients such as Matt
Damon, Ben Affleck and
rock group Phish were
apparently not dissuaded
from handing their money
over to a firm named after
the Greek mythological figure whose prophecies of
doom went unheeded in ancient times.
The U.S. attorney in Manhattan and the Securities
and Exchange Commission have leveled criminal
and civil charges against Giacchetto, accusing him
and his New York-based firm, Cassandra Group, of
stealing the money for his and his company's
benefit, of giving or loaning it to third parties to
conceal the fraud.
The criminal complaint alleges that Giacchetto and
the firm falsely represented to clients and potential
clients that Cassandra used a conservative
investment strategy and that funds in the firm's
hands were especially safe because Cassandra did
not take custody of client funds.
Giacchetto allegedly stole more than $6 million in
client funds, primarily by fraudulently endorsing
checks drawn from the funds. It alleges that he
used the funds in improper ways, including paying
the firm's expenses, such as the rent on its Soho
office space, dining and entertainment bills, and
Giacchetto's personal credit card bills.
A message left on an answering machine at
Cassandra Group was not immediately returned at
press time.
thestreet.com
Fine ending to a bum thief.
Jack |
