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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

SEC Brings Fraud Charges Against San Francisco Hedge Fund Manager

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-203

Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2007 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a San Francisco hedge fund manager with defrauding investors by dramatically overstating the fund's profitability and misusing fund assets. The Commission alleges that Alexander James Trabulse sent account statements to investors in his Fahey Fund that inflated the fund's returns by as much as 200 percent, while using investor money to purchase cars and finance shopping sprees for his family members.

"Trabulse betrayed the trust investors placed in him by fabricating performance figures and treating the hedge fund as if it were his own personal bank account," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "The Commission is determined to hold hedge fund managers accountable when they deceive investors."

Helane L. Morrison, Director of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office, added, "Trabulse encouraged his existing investors to serve as references for new investors. As a result, his false account statements not only lulled existing investors into believing their investments were hugely profitably, but lured new investors into the fraud."

According to the Commission's complaint, filed today in federal district court in San Francisco, Trabulse founded the Fahey Fund in 1997 and raised about $10 million from approximately 100 investors. He told investors the fund invested in financial instruments like stocks, derivatives, and foreign currency. The complaint alleges that Trabulse lured investors by touting the fund's spectacular performance, when in reality the statements he provided to investors bore no relation to the fund's actual performance.

The Commission also alleges Trabulse misused fund assets to pay for a wide variety of personal expenses, using the fund's bank account to pay for cars, a home theater system, and his ex-wife's overseas shopping allowance. He even gave one relative free reign to use the fund's bank accounts for personal use, according to the Commission.

The Commission's complaint alleges Trabulse violated the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and seeks disgorgement, penalties, and other relief. The Commission also has named as relief defendants several entities associated with Trabulse that received assets through Trabulse's fraud.

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For more information, contact:

Helane L. Morrison
Regional Director
SEC's San Francisco Regional Office
(415) 705-2450

Marc J. Fagel
Associate Regional Director
SEC's San Francisco Regional Office
(415) 705-2449

  Additional materials: Litigation Release No. 20300

 

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-203.htm


Modified: 09/26/2007