WEST PALM BEACH, FL (HEDGECO.NET) – A U.S. based hedge fund manager has charged a partner with stealing about $1 million from its fund, according to court papers filed by Catequil Asset ManagementL.P. Robert Ellis sued Paul Touradji charging him with fraud, this action by Touradji has placed his firm in imminent danger Ellis complained in the court papers.
Ellis said in the filling that “Touradji has consistently — and increasingly — acted in an abusive and hostile manner toward employees and ignored efforts to alter his offensive behavior�. According to Ellis, many other employees of the firm have left the company, and may be planning to sue the company as well.
Ellis also charged in the law suit that Touradji put his girlfriend and parents on the payroll, and passed on his $11,000 hotel bill for a private vacation in Tahiti to Catequil, demanding that the firm should pay for such expense.
According to sources knowledgeable with the matter, this fund may not be investigated by the SEC, because the funds at stake are those of the partners, and not its investors.
Attorneys for both parties declined to comment, and Touradji�s lawyers have not responded yet to the lawsuit. Such case comes at a critical juncture as the US Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to vote for the final time on the US hedge fund regulation proposals.
Fraud within the hedge fund industry is relatively small, compared to the level of assets managed; nevertheless cases of fraud have increased in recent years.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
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