Businessman, hands and chauffeur by car door for travel accommodation, designated driver or commute. Hand of male person on vehicle handle in professional transport service, business class or pick up.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a hedge fund manager's personal driver with posing as a financial professional and losing over $1 million combined for three investors who let him manage their money.
The SEC on Dec. 5 filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Shahin Ahmed, alleging that from at least March 2020 to February 2022, he persuaded prospective clients that he had experience as a professional money manager at a hedge fund when in reality he worked as the personal driver at a registered investment advisor that managed the fund.
Ahmed didn't have the education or professional experience he claimed to have — he had no formal education beyond high school — and led at least one client to believe his funds would be invested by the hedge fund manager, according to the SEC, which alleged Ahmed presented the client with a fake investment opportunity and false reports of high returns.
The driver also prompted that individual and a married couple to give him access to their own brokerage accounts to trade securities, the SEC alleges. The commission alleged Ahmed guaranteed risk-free investment while fraudulently collecting fees from his clients, and never repaid any trading losses the investors experienced.
Earlier, he had founded a firm, Honest Partners LLC, with a name "deceptively" similar to the investment advisor where he worked as a driver, the SEC alleged in the complaint.
Ahmed consented to a bifurcated settlement, subject to court approval, which provides for permanent injunctive relief against future violations of securities laws and bars him from acting as an investment advisor or being associated with one, and from participating in offering or selling any security other than in his own personal accounts.
The judgment also authorizes the court to later determine any disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil money penalty against Ahmed.
In June the Nassau County district attorney's office in New York arraigned Ahmed on a grand larceny charge in connection with his conduct with a client, the SEC said. Online court records show Ahmed's next court appearance there is scheduled for Dec. 16. His defense attorney in the Nassau County case couldn't be reached late Monday afternoon.
Credit: Adobe Stock
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.