Two former HMC International, LLC hedge fund execs will pay $4.6 million to settle charges claiming they stole investors’ money, according to Reuters.
Robert Massimi, founder and manager of the collapsed fund and Bret Grebow, a former trader, promised clients they were getting rich, while the two men used the clients’ money to buy a $160,000 car and plane trips.
Massimi agreed to pay $1.46 million and Grebow $3.1 million in order to settle the charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The pair lied to 80 investors between 2001 and 2005 and hid behind made up performance numbers, says SEC lawyers. Grebow also “systematically looted the fund’s trading account.”