Money Manager Bond Convicted of Fraud

According to a Reuters news report, a federal jury took less than an hour to reach a guilty verdict against Alan Bond, 40, president and chief investment officer of Albriond Capital Management.

Bond was convicted of three counts of investment advisory fraud, which carry a possible maximum prison term of 10 years each, and three counts of wire fraud, which carry a possible maximum term of five years each. He has been a frequent contributor to the popular financial television show, “Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser.”

Prosecutors charged that Bond’s “cherry-picking” scheme ran between March 2000 and July 2001 while Bond was out on bail awaiting trial on 1999 charges of taking more than $6 million in kickbacks from brokerage firms. Bond is scheduled to go to trial in November on the kickback charges.

The prosecutors alleged Bond made $6.3 million from the cherry-picking scheme while his clients lost more than $56 million.

Pension Plan Victims

The victims of the scheme were Birmingham Amalgamated Transit Authority Local 725, a union pension fund, Chapman Capital Management, an investment adviser, and the Old Dominion Disability & Retirement Allowance Plan, according to Reuters

The government argued that the pension funds lost two-thirds of their value, while Bond received a 5,000% return on his own investments in a little over a year.

US District Judge Leonard Sand set sentencing for September 9.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, Bond rose to prominence managing more than $600 million of pension and investment funds for about 25 clients, including the National Basketball Association, City University of New York and the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority.