$105 Million Ponzi Scheme by U.S. Virgin Islands-Based Money Manager Halted

The SEC brought suit to obtain an emergency freeze of assets under the control of defendant Spitzer who, using a number of entities and sales agents, defrauded some 400 investors by falsely representing that their money would be invested in funds devoted to foreign currency investment. Over $100 million raised. Investors also were falsely told that Spitzer’s funds had always been profitable, including a return of over 180% one year. In reality, Spitzer invested only a fraction of the money and was operating a Ponzi scheme, and misappropriating investor money to pay unrelated business expenses. He concealed the scheme by issuing phony documents to investors that led them to believe their investments were profiting.