Ex-Bond Trader Pleads Guilty in $65 Million Ponzi Fraud Scheme

A former bond trader and hedge fund founder admitted he misled lenders by forging documents and doctoring financial statements to secure more than $65 million in loans as part of what prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme.

(Bloomberg) — A former bond trader and hedge fund founder admitted he misled lenders by forging documents and doctoring financial statements to secure more than $65 million in loans as part of what prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme.

Jeffrey Soberman Parket, 59, pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud and bank fraud before a federal judge in Manhattan. He faces as much as 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 28.

Parket, of Great Neck, New York, lied about his financial condition and used fake collateral to convince friends, business acquaintances and financial institutions to lend him money, according to the indictment. He allegedly claimed he needed short-term funding for investment opportunities or to buy real estate, using falsified bank and brokerage statements and fake emails in the name of actual executives. 

Prosecutors said he “constructed elaborate stories and submitted hundreds of pages of supporting documents to obtain loans he had no intention of repaying,” while using the proceeds to pay off earlier lenders. He also allegedly convinced relatives to transfer money to him to invest their life savings.

The case is US v Parket, 22-cr-311, US District Court, Southern District of New York.

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