Settlement with Bahamian Brokerage Firm and President on Charges of Facilitating Fraud of Hedge Fund Manager Nikolai Battoo

Defendants were charged with facilitating the notorious Ponzi scheme of Nikolai Battoo in at least three ways. In particular, defendants allegedly: (1) misrepresented themselves to investors as Battoo’s custodian when they did not have custody of assets; (2) allowed Battoo to create false account statements on AIM letterhead that vastly overstated the value of investors’ assets by more than $150 million, which they also provided to auditors; and (3) permitted misappropriation of at least $45 million of investor funds by transferring money at Battoo’s behest from investor accounts to his direct control.