Bookeeper. hmm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIvg-pnjjmM
Cosmo Surrenders, Faces Mail-Fraud Charge in Alleged Scheme http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aF5DS2S.OGrA&refer=home Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nicholas Cosmo, the founder of Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge, New York, was arrested and charged with one count of mail fraud in an alleged $380 million Ponzi scheme. Cosmo surrendered at the Long Island Railroad train station in Hicksville, New York. He is suspected of defrauding thousands of investors through his firm, which purports to provide bridge loans, said a person who wasn’t authorized to speak about the case. He was brought in handcuffs to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Hicksville at about 7:30 p.m. yesterday. “Mr. Cosmo has voluntarily surrendered to the authorities,” said his lawyers, Steven D. Feldman and Arthur G. Jakoby, of the New York-based law firm of Herrick Feinstein LLP in an e-mailed statement. “He intends to work with them to allay investors’ concerns.” Agents with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation unsuccessfully sought to arrest Cosmo earlier yesterday at his office. They executed a search warrant of the premises and could be seen carrying out boxes of documents from the office. Al Weissmann, a U.S. Postal Service inspector, said Cosmo was arrested on one count of mail fraud that is punishable by as long as 20 years in prison and a fine of as much $1 million. Court Appearance Cosmo was expected to be held overnight and appear today in federal court in Central Islip, New York, said James Margolin, a spokesman for the FBI’s New York office. In 1997, while working as a stockbroker at Continental Broker-Dealer Corp. in Carle Place, New York, Cosmo was accused of misappropriating funds, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to a single federal charge in 1999 and was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison and pay at least $135,000 in restitution. He was also ordered to undergo “extensive gambling therapy” while in prison, according to court records. In the earlier case, the NASD found Cosmo “inserted the name Cosmo and Associates to replace a public customer’s name,” on a transaction, according to court filings. He was censured, fined more than $68,000 and barred from associating with NASD members. While Agape World claims that it has been a “private bridge lender” since 1999, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show that Cosmo wasn’t released from the federal penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, until Aug. 23, 2000. Agape World Agape World “works with you and your potential project to help raise assets to meet approval for traditional lending at a later date,” according to the firm’s Web site, which shows images of skyscrapers under construction and building sites. “We arrange equity participations, joint ventures, acquisition loans, bridge loans, construction loans.” In an October interview with Bloomberg at his Hauppauge office, Cosmo said he wasn’t operating a Ponzi scheme after being asked about his prior federal conviction. In that interview, Cosmo handed a Bloomberg reporter a reprint of a page from Entrepreneur Magazine’s May 2008 issue, which listed Agape World as number 73 in its HOT 100 fastest- growing businesses. Cosmo told the magazine he began the business with one employee in August 1999. Actually, he was imprisoned at Allenwood that summer. ‘Old Friend’ “I wouldn’t ever want to go through that again,” he said. He said he was introduced to the business of making “hard money” loans by an “old friend,” an attorney who he declined to name, he said in the interview. Cosmo claimed his first investors were family and friends, and said Agape World charges no upfront fees, just a “good faith” deposit that averages about $20,000 per investor. He claimed to have a Rolodex filled with the names of 5,600 people who have invested in his bridge loans and claimed he hadn’t accepted any new investors for three years. Cosmo said he arranges the loans, which are then funded by his investors. He says sample investors include FBI agents, New York State Police officers, hedge funds and retirement plans. “How could we not be legit,” he said. He declined to say how much Agape World pays out to the investors who fund its loans. In an Oct. 23 e-mail message to a Bloomberg writer, Cosmo said, “I have at least 100 law enforcement officers” and 75 New York City firefighters as investors, he asserted in an e-mail. Cosmo said he has 15 employees in Hauppauge, 10 other workers at two locations in Queens and four employed in a Manhattan Beach, California, office. Dinner Delegate His office’s reception area displays a letter inviting Cosmo to be a “delegate” to the House Republic Trust’s dinner with President George Bush in March 2008. Cosmo said he didn’t attend. Richard Cinnamo, a U.S. Postal inspector, said in a briefing yesterday, just before agents searched Agape World offices, that federal authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for Cosmo and that agents were going to go look for evidence that investors had given Cosmo money. On Jan 27, 8:54 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > My comment: It seems that cooperation from citizenry was crucial to > hunt this suspected dangerous criminal. An unnamed peasant from the > village called police as soon as he suspected that he was an American > economist. "I heard him whispering to the waiter that he has > information about some stocks, then I suspected and I did my duty as a > good citizen", told that peasant to the reporter. She, the waiter, > told police that this suspected criminal offered her some CDOs and > tried to convince her to invest in stock markets against her will. > > (my comment is just a joke, I ignore whether it is based on real facts > or not). > > http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=assdtQhN0Czk&refe... > > Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Arthur Nadel, the Florida hedge-fund adviser > who disappeared 13 days ago, was arrested and charged with defrauding > investors of tens of millions of dollars. > > Nadel, 76, surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation today in > Tampa, Florida, Monica McLean, an agency spokeswoman, said. U.S. > regulators last week accused him of defrauding clients while > overstating six funds’ investments by $300 million. > > The fraud may have been uncovered because of the unrelated arrest on > Dec. 11 of fund manager Bernard Madoff for duping investors out of $50 > billion, the FBI said in a criminal complaint. > > After years of rebuffing requests from an unnamed partner for an > independent audit of his funds, Nadel agreed to one on Jan. 8, FBI > agent Kevin Riordan said in a criminal complaint. Nadel fled six days > later after telling his wife how to survive financially without him, > Riordan said. > > “The avenues to money for you will likely be blocked soon,” Nadel > wrote to his wife in a note that employees found Jan. 15 in a > shredding machine, according to the complaint. “Withdraw as much cash > as you can,” he said, adding that he would send further instructions. > > “Sell the Subaru if you need money,” the FBI quoted him as writing. > > August Transfer > > Beginning in August, Nadel transferred at least $1.25 million from two > funds to a secret bank account, prosecutors said. His funds’ total > assets are now less than $1 million, the Securities and Exchange > Commission said Jan. 21 in a civil fraud lawsuit. > > Nadel told his partner that he graduated from New York University > School of Law and was later disbarred, according to the complaint. He > told investors that he had provided 20 percent returns from 1999 to > 2007, it says. > > The FBI cited five unnamed victims who lost money. > > Two invested a combined $28.6 million in Nadel’s funds, the agency > said. Nadel told one of them, who sought to withdraw funds, that there > was more than $200 million in the victim’s account and the money would > be available by March, Riordan said in the complaint. > > Nadel is to appear in court in Tampa later today. His lawyer, Todd > Foster, didn’t immediately return a call. > > The SEC case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Nadel, 09- > cv-00087, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (Tampa). The > criminal case is U.S.A. v. Nadel, 09-mag-169, U.S. District Court, > Southern District of New York (Manhattan). --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
