West Central Tribune – A federal magistrate judge ordered the release on bail Wednesday of an Illinois hedge fund manager who allegedly helped Minnesota businessman Tom Petters orchestrate what prosecutors call a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme.
Prosecutors tried to persuade U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes that Gregory Bell should be held without bail because he has no significant ties to Minnesota and has millions of dollars in offshore accounts.
They said he also may have or be able to get citizenship in Russia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S. Bell was born in Moscow in 1965, emigrated to the U.S. in 1981 and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
