Free Republic

NEW YORK—The founder of a New York money manager and two associates were criminally charged on Thursday with running a $1.8 billion Ponzi-like fraud where thousands of victims were falsely promised steady returns on their investments. David Gentile, the chief executive of GPB Capital Holdings LLC, was accused of cheating more than 17,000 retail investors taken in by promises of consistent 8 percent annual returns even as the firm was hemorrhaging losses. Authorities said GPB told investors their payments would be funded by revenue from the firm’s holdings, including a group of car dealerships, when in fact a “significant” portion...

You can tell a lot about somebody by the way they manage their money. So the latest financial-disclosure details from Barack and Michelle Obama provide fresh insights into the character of the world’s leading power couple. The Obamas’ net worth is somewhere between $1.9 million and $6.9 million, according to disclosure rules that allow elected officials to report the value of their assets within a wide range, allowing for large swings in value. Obama has readily acknowledged he’s a member of the one percent, though he’s not nearly as wealthy as other presidents were during their tenures, such as both...

Is your money manager a crook? If the rich, famous and sophisticated can get bilked (and the Madoff scandal makes it clear they can), how can you know whom to trust? Here are 5 red flags that should get your attention. By Catherine Holahan The list of Bernard Madoff's victims reads like a who's who of prominent business people, banks and financial firms. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg reportedly invested millions. Banks such as HSBC (HBC, news, msgs) and Austria's Bank Medici could lose billions. An estimated dozens of "funds of funds," which exist to vet and choose the right hedge...