Graf confirms she lost $600,000 in stock fraud
.c The Associated Press
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Former tennis star Steffi Graf has confirmed that she lost $600,000 in a mob-infiltrated stock fraud that bilked investors of $50 million.
In an interview with Germany's financial newspaper Handelsblatt, published Thursday, Graf said she had invested the money in 1996.
``I was mostly angry with myself, because I had been so naive,'' she told the newspaper. Graf said she had been promised ``enormous profits.''
Prosecutors said NFL linebacker Brian Cox also was bilked in the scheme.
Handelsblatt said Graf gave the money to New York broker Harold Weinstein. Prosecutor Kenneth Breen said last week Weinstein once worked at Stratton Oakmont, a mob-run operation shut down in the late 1990s.
Graf told Handelsblatt she ``relied mainly on recommendations from acquaintances, who told me about this New York broker.''
``They told me they'd made incredible winnings with him and that I should listen to his offers,'' said Graf, who retired in 1999 after winning 22 Grand Slam titles and earning nearly $22 million.
``I never met the man and I only knew him on the phone,'' she said.
``At the beginning, the stock, a really small value, went up incredibly. After two or three months, however, I noticed that something wasn't right,'' she said.
Graf said she tried to sell the stock but quickly discovered that the office had closed and that ``no money was there anymore.''
Court papers said that between 1994 and 1998, brokers used high-pressure sales tactics to sell penny stocks at inflated prices. The defendants profited by selling off their own ``house shares'' before prices crashed, and tens of millions of dollars were laundered through domestic and foreign bank accounts.
Two defendants have been identified as associates in the Gambino organized crime family.
``I only heard a few days ago that the mob was allegedly involved, when I read in the newspapers,'' Graf told Handelsblatt. ``At the beginning, there was no reason to be skeptical.''
AP-NY-03-15-01 0857EST |
