Business Week – It’s official: Robert J. Sucarato wasn’t much of a hedge fund manager after all, regulators say. In a civil lawsuit, regulators charge Sucarato lost much of the money he solicited from investors, and he raised that money under false pretenses.
A New Jersey federal judge, at the request of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has frozen all of Sucarato’s assets and ordered him not to destroy any documents pending a court hearing on May 8. The judge approved the asset freeze in response to the CFTC’s Apr. 22 lawsuit, which was unsealed on Apr. 30. The suit accuses the longtime New Jersey resident with "employing a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud participants" in raising at least $1.5 million from at least five investors.
Sucarato did not return telephone calls or an e-mail seeking comment. It is unclear whether he has an attorney after his previous lawyer quit, citing lack of payment.
