- The US Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with a 21-year-old named Omar Zaki who it says ran a hedge fund that misled investors while attending Yale University, according to an SEC filing.
- The graduate, now living in New York City, claimed his fund relied on an algorithm to manage funds of $3 million. The SEC says none of that was true.
- The filing said Zaki “repeatedly misled investors in the Fund about assets under management, fund performance, and fund management.”
- Zaki, who did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Student days are perhaps usually spent studying hard or partying hard, but US regulators say a 21-year-old former Yale student spent his college days defrauding investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced a settlement requiring that former student, Omar Zaki, to pay a $25,000 fine in installments over three years.
An SEC filing accuses Zaki of making false claims about performance, trading strategy, and the size of his fund.
The graduate, who the SEC filing says is now unemployed living in New York City, claimed his fund relied on an algorithm to manage funds of $3 million. The SEC says he did not actually use an algorithm and did not manage $3 million.
From January 2017 to February 2018, Zaki raised $1.7 million from 11 investors touting a fund with returns of more than 80% in a biotech portfolio. The fund claimed to have a trading history from December 2016 to April 2017 but in fact did not begin trading until June 2017, the SEC said.
He will be barred from the investment industry for three years as part of the SEC settlement. Zaki did not admit or deny the agency's findings.
Zaki did not immediately reply to a request for comment on LinkedIn. Zaki's lawyer did not respond to emailed requests for comment.