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The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the missing amounts in a New York-based hedge fund.

The question of what happened to the funds of Arden Capital Management, a hedge fund founded by Francis Saldutti, a L.F. Rothschild & Co. former analyst, is still veiled in obscurity. In April 2003 NorthShore Asset Management, a Chicago investment company, bought the fund from Mr. Saldutti who had at least 80% of the fund’s holdings in cash.

Hedge funds usually invest in money-market funds or other short-term investments, and the investors can easily get it out of the fund when investment opportunities come up. But some investors found their money inaccessible as Mr. Saldutti insists that money was stolen.

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Francis J. Saldutti has served as a Director of the Corporation sinceNovember 1990. Mr. Saldutti has been a general partner of Ardent ResearchPartners, L.P., a technology focused money management partnership, since
April 1992 and was a senior technology analyst at Amerindo Investment Advisors,an investment firm, from October 1989 through February 1995. Prior to
October 1989, Mr. Saldutti was Senior Vice President and Director of Research
for Gartner Securities, Director of Technology Research for LF Rothschild,
Unterberg, Towbin, an investment banking firm, and senior technology analyst for
Merrill Lynch Asset Management’s Science/Technology Fund.

February 24, 2007 — IT isn’t just presidential politics that has David Geffen bad-mouthing Sen. Hillary Clinton and throwing his support behind Sen. Barack Obama.

Sources say the diminutive movie mogul is motivated by jealousy because his old friend Bill Clinton now prefers the company of supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle. Geffen’s animosity is also fueled by Burkle’s attempt to buy the Los Angeles Times, which Geffen had wanted to purchase for himself.

“It’s all about Bill Clinton’s relationship with Burkle, and it all started because Burkle went after the Los Angeles Times,” said one West Coast source. “Geffen is on a jihad right now.”

Bill Clinton used to stay at Geffen’s mansion (once owned by Jack Warner), but now he stays at Burkle’s estate (the former home of silent film star Harold Lloyd) whenever he’s in town.

The former president is also a partner in Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies, which buys and invests in various ventures. While the exact arrangements have never been disclosed, it is believed that Clinton could earn many millions of dollars from his relationship with Burkle.

Insiders say Geffen - a billionaire who started in the music industry and co-founded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg - moved quickly to host a fund-raiser for Obama when he learned that an L.A. event for Hillary Clinton had been scheduled.

Then, Geffen went public, calling Bill a “reckless guy” and Hillary an “incredibly polarizing figure.” “Everybody in politics lies, but they [the Clintons] do it with such ease, it’s troubling,” Geffen said.

Hillary’s camp demanded that Obama renounce Geffen and return his campaign contributions. “They all look really stupid,” said one politically connected Californian. “It’s hurting the Democratic Party nationwide.”

Another Democratic source scoffed at Geffen’s explanation for his disenchantment with Bill Clinton, attributing it to Clinton’s pardon of tax fugitive Marc Rich while failing to pardon American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of murdering two FBI agents.

“I never believed the pardon was the issue,” said this politico. “Geffen is looking for a platform. He’s frustrated and bitter. He’s got all these billions, but he’s still trying to prove his relevance.”