Hedge funds are investment partnerships that are not as regulated or transparent as other types of investments. Hedge funds can invest in a wide variety of products that other investment vehicles cannot, which can provide very high returns in some cases. Investors may also suffer significant losses in hedge funds, and their minimal transparency can make it difficult for investors to evaluate them.
Miami Known For Hedge Fund Fraud And Other Schemes
Miami, Florida has been the home base for many hedge fund fraudsters and Ponzi schemers. It’s been said that fraud is one of Florida’s biggest industries.
Silver Law Group helps investors around the country and overseas in recovering investment losses due to fraud, stockbroker misconduct, and other causes. We have an office in New York, but our main office is in south Florida. Scott Silver, Silver Law Group’s managing partner, is a graduate of the University of Miami Law School.
David Coggins And Coral Gables Asset Management
Silver Law Group represents investors who have losses from investing in the Miami-area hedge fund Coral Gables Asset Management, which was managed by now-convicted fraudster David Coggins.
Our clients allege that Coggins created fraudulent marketing materials that described past performance of the fund and his supposed investment strategy. Coggins is alleged to have produced fake independent audit reports and represented that he was a successful money manager.
Coggins also gave false performance information to investment research provider BarclayHedge, which then gave his hedge fund a high performing award for February, 2020. Coggins used the award to bring in investors, but it appears he used their money for other purposes. In 2021, David Coggins was sentenced to more than four years in prison. Silver Law Group continues to work to help investors recover their losses with his fund.
FF Fund Management And Andrew Franzone
In April, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint that charged Andrew Franzone and his Miami-based hedge fund FF Fund Management with fraud related to “raising and appropriating tens of millions of dollars from the sale of limited partnership interests in a private fund.”
Andrew Franzone, who is a former race car team owner, is alleged in the SEC’s complaint to have defrauded investors by misappropriating fund assets, misrepresenting fund investments and strategy, not disclosing conflicts of interest, and falsely claiming that the fund would have annual audits.
Franzone reportedly raised more than $38 million from investors from 2014 to 2019, who he told that the fund would have a liquid portfolio of options and preferred stocks.
The complaint alleges that Franzone sent fund money to a company he owned and invested the rest in illiquid private companies and real estate. He’s also alleged to have taken personal loans from the founders of companies he invested in and used fund assets to get loans that benefitted him.
The SEC claims Franzone used money misappropriated from the fund to buy a garage to store his race car collection and the fund was not audited annually. FFM filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and criminal charges have been filed against Andrew Franzone.
Silver Law Group is also currently working for victims of the TCA hedge fund fraud, the Woodbridge real estate Ponzi scheme, and other Ponzi schemes based in Florida.
Recovering Miami Hedge Fund Losses
If you invested in a fraudulent Miami-area hedge fund, contact Silver Law Group for a confidential, no-cost consultation.
Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases nationwide and internationally to recover investment losses due to stockbroker and fraudster misconduct and other investment misconduct. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning nothing is owed unless we are successful. Call us toll free at (800) 975-4345 or email ssilver@silverlaw.com.