NIR Group founder Corey Ribotsky was finally charged with creating a scheme to defraud investors in his hedge funds. Today the SEC filed a 34-page lawsuit detailing how Ribotsky lied to investors in 2008 about the value of the assets when he could not meet redemption request. The federal regulator, who DealFlow Media has been reporting is investigating Ribotsky for over a year, also detailed how this Long Island hedgie used investor funds to buy himself some fancy cars and watches while gating their money.
Nathan Vardi at Forbes was the first reporter to highlight the Ribotsky scheme in 2007 and has a great write up of all the lies Ribotsky and his lawyers have told journalist while we’ve been reporting on this alleged fraud.
Stay tuned as DealFlow Media will be reporting an update on the Master Fund liquidation, run by PwC, and the maneuvers Ribotsky has been making to continue to reap fees from his gated investors. I have been covering NIR Group’s fraud for three years now and while it was disappointing to see the New York Post hold stories on Ribotsky in November 2008; I applaud my editors at DealFlow for buying story after story from me on NIR Group’s scheme to defraud, steal, and cheat his investors and the penny stock companies he did PIPE deals with. Today we see the SEC thinks most of my reporting is correct and wants to try and get money back for the investors Ribotsky (age 40) allegedly cheated.
It’s unclear if the Brooklyn DOJ will also charge Ribotsky on criminal fraud but I can report investors in the fund have been interviewed by the FBI this summer so their case appears to still be alive.
Meanwhile if you want to see what appears to be Ribotsky’s exit plan click here. He seems to have convinced a Long Island political strategist to help him start a think tank because he believes he “can provide important guidance during these troubling economic times.”
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