October 14, 2014

U.S. Attorney Luger Announces 2013 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Awarded to FBI Special Agent Ruth Hovey for Her Outstanding Investigative Work Fighting White-Collar Crime in Minnesota

United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced that Special Agent Ruth Hovey of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the recipient of the 2013 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award for her outstanding law enforcement work in the State of Minnesota. Special Agent Hovey has been an outstanding partner to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s pursuit of justice in fraud cases for more than a decade, and her exemplary work during 2013 was consistent with her many previous accomplishments.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office depends on excellent work by our law enforcement partners to pursue successful prosecutions,” said U.S. Attorney Luger. “It takes a particular diligence to make white collar cases like those investigated by Special Agent Hovey. On behalf of the Department of Justice and the Assistant U.S. Attorneys in my Office, as well as all of the victims for whom she has sought justice throughout her career, I am honored to present Ruth Hovey with the 2013 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Svendsen said: “Special Agent Ruth Hovey is being honored today for her body of work investigating financial crimes. In the past several years she has brought her extensive skills to many significant investigations involving investment advisor fraud, working to protect the people of this country from those who would prey on them and steal their hard-earned savings. Special Agent Hovey is also a tremendous teammate and mentor to white collar prosecutors and agents alike. I have been privileged for the past several years to work with Ruth and to call her my friend, and I am pleased that she is being recognized for her hard work.”

Special Agent Hovey works primarily on white collar investigations focusing on investment fraud. She has led or played a central role in several large investigations that resulted in successful federal prosecutions. In 2013, Special Agent Hovey made invaluable contributions to multiple prosecutions, including acting as a leader on a team that investigated a number of hedge funds that placed money with Tom Petters and Petters Company, Inc., including the trial and conviction of Jim Fry, an investment manager of one of those hedge funds, in one of the most complex white collar cases in the history of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The defendants in these hedge fund cases lied to investors and used their money to invest in the Petters Ponzi scheme, playing an essential role in one of the largest fraud schemes in history, which resulted in catastrophic losses to the victims. The successful prosecution of this complex case required extraordinary cooperation and teamwork between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agents from three different agencies. With respect to the investigation, Special Agent Hovey was particularly adept at finding the needles in this massive haystack of documents and other evidence. All told, this evidence amounted to millions of pages of documents. Special Agent Hovey and the other agents interviewed hundreds of potential witnesses, resulting in nearly 12,000 pages of written memoranda of interviews.

Special Agent Hovey was also instrumental in the recent investment fraud case against Mark Holt, a securities broker, investment advisor, and now disbarred attorney, who operated a multi- million dollar fraud scheme for at least eight years. Throughout the investigation, Special Agent Hovey did an outstanding job communicating with the victims to ensure that their voices were heard by the probation officer and the sentencing court. As a result of her work, the Court received many powerful letters detailing the impact of Holt’s crimes on the victims and their families. Holt was sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison, and ordered to pay more than $2.9 million in restitution to the victims of his scheme.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Law Enforcement Award is presented annually to a local, state, or federal law enforcement agent, officer, or investigative team that has performed outstanding work on a significant federal case or on a series of cases. In addition, the recipient of the award must exemplify the cooperative spirit Minnesotans have come to expect from local, state, and federal law enforcement.