New York (HedgeCo.Net) – The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have filed three counts of wire fraud and two counts of securities fraud against a New Jersey man they say was posing as a hedge fund manager.

Nicholas Lattanzio of Montclair, New Jersey operated the Black Diamond Capital Appreciation Fund LP and presented himself as a successful hedge fund manager. He is accused of coercing an oil and gas company in New York and a hotel in Atlanta to wire him $2 million each. The funds were supposed to be an advance as Lattanzio helped both companies arrange financing. Authorities say that instead he spent the funds on a million dollar home, a Land Rover, Tiffany jewelry, and Yankees tickets.

“Lattanzio masqueraded as a sophisticated hedge fund manager to capitalize on small businesses’ legitimate need for financing” and to “bankroll his affluent lifestyle,” Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York office, said in a statement. If convicted, Lattanzio could get up to 20 years in prison for each fraud count.

Rick Pendergraft
Research Analyst
HedgeCoVest