Rogue Money Manager Bond Headed for Federal Prison

February 11, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Rogue former money manager Alan Bond, convicted of cheating pension fund clients out of millions of dollars, got slapped with a prison term of 12 years and seven months.

During a federal court hearing in Manhattan before US District Judge Leonard Sand, a repentant Bond admitted that his activities were “improper and inappropriate,” Dow Jones reported. In addition to the jail time, Sand also ordered Bond to pay at least $6.6 million in restitution to victims and $35,000 in fines.

Bond, who ran the firm Albriond Capital Management, has been in jail since June, when a federal jury convicted him of “cherry-picking” – steering profitable trades into his own account and losers into clients’ accounts. The scheme netted Bond $6.3 million and cost the clients more than $56 million, according to the charges.

The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office said Bond committed the crimes while out on bail in a separate case, which involved the pocketing of $6 million in kickbacks from brokerage firms.   Bond, of Upper Montclair, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to the kickback charges in October.

A Florida Condo and 75 Cars

In handing down a sentence covering both cases, Sand denied impassioned pleas for leniency from Bond’s wife, Sheila, and pastor, V. DuWayne Battle.   The judge noted that Bond stole money from clients to support a lavish lifestyle that included a beachfront Florida condominium and a collection of 75 cars. “Bond said he acted in pursuit of dreams,” Sand said. “Dreams are a euphemism for what I’ll characterize as greed and ego.”

Bond rose to prominence managing more than $600 million of pension and investment funds for about 25 clients, including the National Basketball Association, the City University of New York, and the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Many of   Bond’s clients abandoned him after his first arrest in December 1999. He allegedly went on to steal from three loyal clients in order to pay his legal bills.   Bond was forced to shutter his firm’s operations after his second arrest on the cherry-picking charges in August 2001.

Erik Stanstedt, a lawyer for two pension fund victims – Old Dominion Transit Employees and Birmingham Amalgamated Transit Authority – told the judge: ” There’s no end to the hardships in sight.” The funds, which handle retirement money for hundreds of bus drivers and mechanics, have raised minimum contributions to make up for money that was lost, he said.

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