SEC Calls Hedge Fund Guy a Serial Liar

BOSTON (CN) - Twenty-seven-year old money manager Andrey Hicks "lied to investors about virtually every aspect of his fictitious hedge fund," the SEC regional director said Wednesday in announcing what he called a $1.7 million fraud by Hicks and his company, Locust Offshore Management LLC.

"Among the false claims made to investors were that Hicks obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University, and that he previously worked for Barclays Capital, and that the hedge fund held more than $1.2 billion in assets," SEC Regional Director David Bergers said in a statement.

A federal judge froze the assets of Hicks, his LLC and his hedge fund, the Locust Offshore Fund.

Hicks claimed to be a quant, or quantitative strategist, who used complex mathematical formulae to make his investments.

He "falsely claimed that the firm's quantitative strategies were based on mathematical models that Hicks developed while at Harvard, where he purportedly received his undergraduate degree in 2005 and a graduate degree in 2007," the SEC said in its statement. But "Unbeknownst to investors, Hicks only attended Harvard's undergraduate college for three semesters and never graduated after twice being required to withdraw for failing to perform academically. Hicks only took one mathematics course during his time at Harvard, receiving a D- for a grade."

Hicks also claimed that he managed $16 billion for Barclays Capital, though "the firm has no record of employing Hicks," and "falsely claimed that Ernst & Young served as the fund's auditor, Credit Suisse served as the fund's prime broker and custodian, and the fund was a business company incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands," according to the SEC.

Apparently, Hicks is really 27 and really lives in Boston.

The SEC seeks disgorgement, penalties and an injunction.

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