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To: bentway who wrote (180374)	1/28/2009 8:44:50 PM
From: DebtBomb	Respond to of 306849

Trust Me, Invest in TARP — What Could Go Wrong? It looks like we may have another mini-Madoff, although this one has a twist: Securities regulators say an investment adviser told his clients that he was investing their money in the government’s $700 billion banking bailout. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the adviser, Gordon B. Grigg of Nashville, and his firm, ProTrust Management, with securities fraud on Wednesday. The agency accused Mr. Grigg of defrauding clients out of at least $6.5 million by falsely telling them that their money was invested in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, and in other securities that did not really exist. A federal judge froze the assets of Mr. Grigg and ProTrust and issued a temporary restraining order against them to prevent further violations, the S.E.C. said. The S.E.C. said in its civil complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Nashville, that Mr. Grigg described himself as a financial planner and investment adviser, but that neither he nor his firm was registered with the S.E.C. or a state regulator. The agency alleged that Mr. Grigg controlled the money of at least 27 clients since 2007 and falsely claimed to have invested their money in securities described as “private placements.” It said Mr. Grigg created fraudulent account statements to show his clients owned these non-existent securities. Then, the S.E.C. said, Mr. Grigg became more creative after banking bailout was in full swing. The agency alleged that Mr. Grigg began falsely claiming in December that ProTrust could invest client funds in government-guaranteed commercial paper and bank debt as part of TARP. Mr. Grigg also falsely claimed to have partnerships and other business relationships with several of the nation’s top investment firms, it said. “Grigg and ProTrust preyed upon investors’ desire for safety by claiming associations with reputable investment firms and the government’s TARP program,” Katherine Addleman, director of the S.E.C.’s Atlanta regional office, said in a statement. “Not only were such claims false, but there is in fact no program in which investors can buy debt guaranteed by the TARP program,” she said. Mr. Grigg’s lawyer, Mark Pickrell, told The Associated Press in an e-mailed statement that his client “agreed to entry of the temporary restraining order requested by the S.E.C. and he looks forward to working to resolve these matters as quickly as possible.” dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com