A second executive at a Wall Street investment advisory firm has pleaded guilty for his role in a US$100-million Ponzi scheme that defrauded clients and other investors.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that Martin Silver, former managing partner and chief operating officer at New York’s International Investment Group (IIG), has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, investment adviser fraud and wire fraud charges.
The charges stemmed from a scheme that involved duping IIG’s institutional clients — which included pension funds, hedge funds and insurers — by mis-marking assets, creating fake loans and overvaluing investments.
“Today, Martin Silver admitted to participating in a sophisticated, decade-long scheme to defraud IIG funds and investors, abandoning his fiduciary responsibilities to IIG’s clients, and causing millions of dollars of losses,” said Audrey Strauss, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a release.
Earlier this year, IIG’s managing partner and chief investment officer, David Hu, also pleaded guilty to various fraud charges. He agreed to forfeit US$129 million in connection with his plea deal and is due to be sentenced June 17.
As part of his plea agreement, Silver agreed to cooperate with the U.S government’s ongoing investigation. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 16.