WASHINGTON (HedgeWorld.com)–The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled fraud and failure-to-supervise charges against the manager of investments and the principal of the now defunct hedge fund Marque Millennium Group Inc., New York.
In their complaint, SEC officials said Robert T. Littell worked as the manager of investments for three hedge funds run by Marque Millennium Group: Marque Partners I, Marque Partners II and Marque Fund II Ltd. Wilfred J. Meckel was the founder and senior managing director of Marque Millennium Group and Mr. Littell’s boss.
Mr. Littell, commission officials charged, lied to investors, potential investors, brokers and third-party marketers about the funds’ performance, their management structure, whether they had retained an auditor and accountant and about the funds’ risk management techniques. He also improperly redeemed some investors’ capital, leaving the investors who remained in the funds with less in assets than they should have had Previous HedgeWorld Story.
Mr. Meckel failed to supervise properly Mr. Littell, according to the SEC complaint.
Messrs. Littell and Meckel agreed to settlements with the SEC, without admitting to or denying the commission’s findings. Mr. Littell agreed not to work with or as an investment adviser and to pay a US$15,000 civil penalty. Mr. Meckel was censured and agreed not to work in a supervisory role at an investment adviser firm for six months. Neither man returned calls seeking comment.