Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Alleged fraudulent hedge fund associated with the Vice President’s family harasses blogger


I wrote a post about Ponta Negra – a hedge fund that I thought was more likely than not to be fraudulent.  I did not name Ponta Negra in the post but I put two of their marketing documents on the web and some people found them.  

I withdrew that post after threats from lawyers.  I also removed the documents from the web.

I have reposted the two marketing documents I have from Ponta Negra here and here and the first threat from the lawyer here.  

I have done this because Francesco Rusciano of Ponta Negra has formally had his assets frozen by a Federal Judge at the request of the SEC.  Also see here for the formal charges.  

Anyway I asked the lawyers for the things that I would need to do due diligence on Ponta Negra – that is the identity of the auditor, permission to talk to the auditor, identity of the prime broker and permission to talk to the prime broker.  

I was denied.  The lawyers argued that I was “just a blogger”.  Their denial letter is here.

The first marketing document however identified a supposed prime broker as Citigroup.  I wrote to citigroup several times – and spoke to senior people in their government relations area and told Citigroup the entire story.  I believe that Citigroup did not react appropriately to a fraud committed in their name.

Anyway I will save you the suspense.  All of this would not be the biggest story on my blog except that Ponta Negra is marketed out of the office of Paradigm Global – a fund of hedge funds owned and controlled by Hunter Biden and James Biden.  Hunter and James are the son and brother of Vice President Joe Biden respectively.

You can find this several ways.  

1. Ponta Negra gives its address in the second marketing document as 650 Fifth Avenue, 17th Floor.  This is the same address as Paradigm Global.  

2. The contact on the first marketing document for Ponta Negra is Jeffry Schneider.  This is the same Jeffry Schneider who is quoted in this Wall Street Journal article as being the marketer for Paradigm Global and effectively spins for the Bidens.

3. This SEC filing gives an address and phone number for Ponta Negra.  The address and phone number is a number through the switchboard of Paradigm Global and until recently it was a way of getting into contact with Ponta Negra.

At a minimum Paradigm Global – a fund of fund managers owned the Vice President’s family, housed an alleged fraudster.  The alleged fraudster used the same phone number as the Vice President’s family business, the same marketing machine and traded off the good name of the Vice President’s family business.

There are numerous posts about Ponta Negra, Paradigm and other assorted entities (Onyx Capital for one) that I have withheld posting on.  I will put them up as a series.  The ties between the Vice President’s family and some very questionable dealings are very strong.

The next step for the SEC has the surname Biden.  Are they up to it?

To be continued.


John

22 comments:

Andrew said...

This is truly amazing. Seems like the Biden family might be a bit like the Noel Family that ran FFG. Will be particularly interesting to see if the MSM picks up on this post at all. It is very timely.

Matthew Hunt said...

I love the quotes around "blogger" in the lawyer's letter. Be sure to return the favor and use them around "lawyer", "attorney", and "counsel" when writing about them.

Unknown said...

Good work John,

Keep it up- glad you're now comfortable putting this material back on-line and that the SEC has now stepped up.

As L Cohen said, there is a crack, a crack in everything- that's how the light gets in.


--Q

Anonymous said...

wow! just.... wow! i was expecting this to happen in communist australia but not the US.

this correspondence should make it on WSJ and Bloomberg frontpage and someone should print them and SHOVE THEM on the SEC fuckin throats!

then someone should take a closer look at the activities of "attorneys at law" SadisGoldberg.

you should add a financial support link on the blog if you need help to fight these scums. i for one, would chip in.

Anonymous said...

oh, and in your reply correspondence you need to write:

"this blogger humbly reports that 1) i found them in an envelope on Joe Biden stationery while walking my dog and 2) will you please scratch my balls? i have an urgent need right now. thank you for your assistance on this matter."

Anonymous said...

This is dynamite!

Shanky said...

WOW! With the SEC's track record I would assume all are safe and will not be prosecuted or even investigated for that matter.

Unknown said...

Wow. Nice work indeed. It sure is refreshing to read someone who takes the initiative to call out fraudulent money managers before the SEC files charges. Keep digging, and trust no one. There are plenty more Madoffs out there....

Unknown said...

Oh yeah, and I love the letters from the attorneys. Get some more of those please.

I like how in the first letter, the attorneys complain several times that you were not "doing your diligence and contacting Ponta Negra directly."

Then you do exactly that, simply asking them for information that a "prospective institutional client would want before investing in the fund." Oh man, that is good stuff.

Anonymous said...

Outstanding work!

SEC press release and actual complaint:

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21012.htm

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21012.pdf

Keith - Hermosa said...

Very nice job. It is so nice to find that there is intelligent life on earth.

Anonymous said...

And what's more the building they were using (650 Fifth Ave) was partially owned by a Iranian bank!

(http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/feds-seek-forfeiture-at-650-fifth-ave).

Here is the DoJ link:
http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/nyfo121708.htm

C. Watt said...

Take the first step, no more, no less, and the next will be revealed.

Anonymous Jones said...

I wish lawyers would learn that less is more. Every time this lawyer starts a new paragraph, I know he's just about to dig himself a deeper hole. What a buffoon.

Cassandra said...

Bravo! You're a brave man. Seems like you did plenty of due diligence and stood up to some heavy hitters.

It's amazing. Sometimes you're "libelous" and capable of actual malice under 1st Amend law just like a "real" journalist but when you request information that vindicates you, you're just a "blogger."

Glad you're on nakedcapitalism.

john bougearel said...

Nice work from "just a blogger!" :-)

Dai said...

"At a minimum Paradigm Global – a fund of fund managers owned the Vice President’s family housed an alleged fraudster."

You may want to reword that sentence a bit; it doesn't make sense as is.

John Hempton said...

Dai - a comma put in...

ta

Cetamua said...

John,
This is outstanding work.

Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge blog (mandatory reading for me) has a detailed post about your findings.
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-joe-biden-associated-with-hedge-fund.html

Needless to say he is impressed.

The "just a blogger" BS is hilarious; should this story go mainstream, even Obama will have to swallow his snarky comments on bloggers.

market folly said...

outstanding work, very interesting stuff. the "just a blogger" is icing on the cake too given the circumstances! haha

Jay

Anonymous said...

Outstanding work, John!

I just read about this here:

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/05/bidens-of-hedge-funds-hair-plugs-and.html

that has an illustrated overview of the whole, sordid tale. Well done!

Anonymous said...

I wish someone would do more work on Simmons Cooper and Joe Biden. The Chicago law firm that was going to finance the Paradigm purchase on behalf of the Biden boys has made tens of millions in asbestos litigation settlements as a result of Senator Biden's direct involvement over the years.

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