The SEC has charged a Monticello, N.Y.-based investment adviser with fraudulently offering and selling securities in two upstate New York real estate funds he managed.
The SEC alleges that the adviser told investors in the Gaffken & Barriger Fund (G&B Fund) that it was a relatively safe and liquid investment that generated a minimum return of 8 percent per year. However, the fund’s actual performance did not justify these performance claims. The SEC further alleges that he defrauded investors in Campus Capital Corp. by raising money from them to prop up the ailing G&B Fund without disclosing that was how their money was actually being used. The Commission also alleges that the adviser caused Campus to engage in other transactions that personally benefitted him, unbeknownst to Campus investors.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the G&B Fund raised approximately $20 million from January 1998 to March 2008, and Campus raised approximately $12 million from October 2001 to July 2008. Barriger froze the G&B Fund in March 2008 and disclosed its true financial condition to investors.
The press release contains a link to the complaint - SEC Charges Investment Adviser With Defrauding Investors in Two Upstate New York Real Estate Funds
