In case you were wondering, this is an excellent way to determine whether the can’t-miss 30%-return-guaranteed trading strategy you’re being offered is probably a fraud.
To solicit and retain investors, Defendants represented that the Fund employed several profitable, sophisticated trading strategies involving highly liquid securities, including those that it was uniquely positioned to pursue because of its access to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange trading floor….
Ah, yes, unique and unprecedented access to highly sophisticated strategies playing out on the floor of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, all masterminded from an office on the other side of I-76 from the West Conshohocken WaWa. In case you were wondering, this highly-placed individual is currently enjoying the hospitality of a county jail in Newark, N.J., after prosecutors discovered that one of those highly sophisticated strategies allegedly involved paying off $2 million in personal Amex bills, losing more than half of what she did invest, and inventing imaginary bank bonds and “securitized cryptocurrencies” to explain why she couldn’t fill redemption requests.
SEC v. Brenda A. Smith, et. al. [SEC]
Hedge fund CEO arrested at her Rittenhouse Square condo, charged in $63 million Ponzi scheme [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Philly hedge fund CEO jailed in N.J. pending bail hearing [Philadelphia Inquirer]