Fake Hedge Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors of $2.3 Million

BOSTON—A Massachusetts man was convicted today of wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent hedge fund investment scheme.

Andrey C. Hicks, 28, most recently residing in Andover, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris to five counts of wire fraud.

From March 2011 until October 2011, Hicks obtained approximately $2.3 million from 10 people for the purpose of investing in what Hicks represented was his successful hedge fund, Locust Offshore Management (Locust). Hicks made a variety of misrepresentations about his background, experience, and Locust in order to convince people to give him money for investment. Among other things, Hicks told people the following, all of which were false: 1) that he had undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University; 2) that he had been a successful hedge fund manager working for Barclays Capital; 3) that Locust had more than $1 billion under management and had earned a nearly 80 percent profit in trading in 2011. In actuality, Hicks did not invest any of the funds given to him for that purpose but instead used those funds for his own personal purposes.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 6, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. Hicks faces up to 20 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each count.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Field Division; and Kevin Weeks, Director of Field Operations for U.S. Customs & Border Protection, made the announcement today. The Securities and Exchange Commission also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Veronica Lei of Ortiz’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.