Hedge fund exec gets four years after inflating assets by $100 million

A former hedge fund chief has been sentenced to over four years in jail after being convicted in a US$100 million securities mismarking scheme.

The founder and CEO of Premium Point Investments LP, Anilesh Ahuja, was sentenced to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release after a jury convicted him of various fraud-related offences in connection with a scheme to inflate the net asset value of its funds by more than US$100 million.

“PPI fraudulently obtained inflated quotes, including from corrupt brokers, and manipulated its valuation process to inflate the purported value of securities held by the funds,” said the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).

Last week, a former trader at PPI, who was also convicted, was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

“Ahuja conspired with others in his company and corrupt brokers to fraudulently inflate the value of the assets under their management, which in turn allowed them to charge higher fees and avoid redemptions by investors who otherwise would have pulled their money from Premium Point,” said U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.