UK court sentences city fund managers to 12 years in $8M fraud case News
stux / Pixabay
UK court sentences city fund managers to 12 years in $8M fraud case

Southwark Crown Court Sunday sentenced three fund managers to a total of 12 years and three months imprisonment following a seven year investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Frederic Marino, Yoshiki Ohmura and Aurelien Bessot were convicted for their involvement in a fraud that caused the Libyan Sovereign Wealth Fund to lose a total of $8.45 million.

Marino, a former JPMorgan investment manager, and Bessot began the investment company FM Capital Partners (FMCP) in 2009. Through Ohmura, a Swiss investment banker, FMCP made investments on behalf of the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAIP). However, the trio also paid hidden fees to their own offshore companies in the Seychelles and the Cayman Islands. In the process, they defrauded LAIP of millions of dollars. In December 2022, Marino and Ohmura were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by abuse of position, while Bessot pleaded guilty to the charge prior to the trial. They were sentenced Monday to seven and a half years, three and a half years and a 15 month suspended sentence, respectively.

The sentences are the result of an “extremely complex investigation” that first began in 2014 with an independent audit. The NCA and CPS then took over the investigation. Commenting on the situation, Deputy Director of the National Economic Crime Center Rachael Herbert said:

The defendants deliberately abused their professional positions to commit fraud to acquire vast sums of money for their own personal gain. This successful investigation demonstrates the NCA can disrupt complex fraud through law enforcement collaboration, both nationally and internationally

The NCA hope that these convictions “send a clear message to anyone in the financial sector about the consequences of abusing their position.”

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.