Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed fraud charges against hedge fund RD Legal Capital for allegedly misleading its investors about how much bet they made on the outcome of a judgment against Iran for sponsoring a terrorist attack that killed American citizens.
In its lawsuit, the SEC said that RD Legal, which was set up by Roni Dersovitz to bet on the outcome of terrorism litigation, has marketed the company as making money from profits arising from safe legal settlements. Instead, the SEC accused the hedge fund and Dersovits of "investing the funds' money however they saw fit."
The SEC alleges, "In fact, since the funds’ inception in 2007, respondents (Dersovitz and RD Legal) invested the funds’ money however they saw fit, including in unsettled cases, cases unaffiliated with any law firm, and other cases for which collection was still subject to litigation risk."
SEC showed records claiming that RD Legal, has for years, spent its fund buying up victims claim tied to a $1.8bn in a default judgment against Iran over the terrorist bombing of a U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. At least 80% of RD Legal’s assets were invested in the unsettled cases as of 2015, the SEC said.
RD Legal and Dersovits were also accused by the SEC of artificially jacking up the values of their holdings in some instances so the fund and the e...................... To view our full article Click here
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