TAMPA (CN) - The SEC sued Arthur Nadel, the 76-year-old hedge fund manager who disappeared on Jan. 14 with $320 million missing from his hedge funds, and froze what was left of his assets. Just before disappearing, Nadel transferred $1.25 million to "one of the secret accounts" he controlled, the SEC says.
Defendants in the federal action include Scoop Capital and Scoop Management, which "advised" the hedge funds Nadel controlled, and Scoop Real Estate, Valhalla Investment Partners, Valhalla Management, Victory IRA Fund, Victory Fund, Viking IRA Fund, Viking Fund, and Viking Management.
Nadel allegedly left a suicide note before leaving home on Jan. 14, then called his stepson and informed him of the note, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. He has not been seen since. Sarasota police are said to have been investigating Nadel since the collapse of Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme became public. Nadel was a real estate developer in the 1960s and, like Madoff, was prominent on the charity circuit.
The SEC complaint states that Nadel and his companied "massively overstated the Hedge Funds' historical investment returns and the value of their assets in account statements provided to investors."
Nadel claimed that six of his hedge funds were worth more than $300 million, but the SEC says only $506,000 is left in them - $15,215 in securities, and the rest in "cash on hand."
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