scam: how did art nadel and his partners: convince so many prominent investors to put so many millions into their scoop management hedge funds? - big jewelry

Sarasota's social season is usually very hot at the beginning of this year, but in January 2009, the party was small and depressed.
After three.
For a year, deflation in the property market, the collapse of the stock market in September and the banking crisis have made even the most complacent villagers as nervous as cats in the pouring rain.
There are more houses on the market, foreclosures happen from time to time, and shops and restaurants are closing.
Many of the socialites are scared by the loss of property and stock markets, and they are cutting donations to Gallas and dinner to their favorite charity. [
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But there are still several bright lights flashing.
In particular, NeilMoody and Art of Scoop Management, Inc. investment, and Peg Nadel
On the street, stand out as a beacon of success and charity.
The company, which owns Scoop, manages six different hedge funds, totaling $0. 36 billion;
Moody's and his son Chris hired Nader to manage the money with these three funds-Viking, Viking Irish republican and Valhalla.
Moody's, the managing partner of these funds, has just issued a brilliant fourth-quarter report.
Some lone news investors will receive $50 million in payments in January.
They looked forward to their check with confidence.
While most investment funds have suffered serious losses, funds managed by 70-year-old Moody's and 76-year-old partner Arthur Nadel are still surprisingly getting around 9%
Mood aplatinum-
The public faces of these funds are dressers with untidy hair, subtle but confident manners;
And Nadel, quiet and mousy, invested their money.
Even at the worst, no one really understands how Nader's average and trading system prevails, but if you ask Moody about it at dinner or cocktail parties, it's like people sometimes describe a method that, while too complicated to follow completely, sounds impressive and convincing.
Who can argue with an 18-year-old 10-year-old
48% income?
A sports car collector built a rambling summer resort on a mountain in Evergreen Colorado.
Moody's owns a $2 million waterfront apartment in Bellasara, Kinmen, and before moving to Sarasota, he worked in the north-east KidderPeabody and Paine Webber.
He married Sharon, a blonde widow with her own money.
Moody's looks as generous as Wall Street. savvy.
He served on various charitable committees, he gave millions of dollars to the YMCA, $250,000 to the salatota ballet, $100,000 to the salatota County Arts Council, and designed women
A few years ago, he offered $30,000 to Tampa Children's Hospital for the privilege of the exam.
Drive 13 of the best cars in the world.
In fact, he was such a big donor to so many local charities that he was honored on the national charity day on November, he and Sharon are about to join the top echelons of the salatota Pikov couple at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Jewish Council, which had previously acknowledged such important Bob andDiane Roskamp, Betty Schoenbaum, Bea Friedman.
If the charming and wealthy Moody's are at the top of Sarasota society, art Nader and his wife Peg Nadel are still moving on.
They don't coordinate.
Looks like a couple, tall, slim Pegg, former model, is in his 70 s now but still very pretty and much shorter and looks a bit like Woody
In a city full of water
They live in a $300,000 house in a middle city.
They drove a Subaru car.
But they soon became famous for themselves.
Former President of the Sarasota Opera Association, peeger, who has served on many boards, is "very, very generous," said an art leader who has worked with her for many years.
Over the past few years, she and the art company have donated $200,000 to Catholic Charities, $100,000 to theaters, and $100,000 to girls.
Provide $750,000 to human habitat and promise to provide millions more.
They also donated money to the local theater and the jazz club Sarasota. On Jan.
10, she looked very happy when she hosted the Sarasota celebration, and the next year she won the championship ---about $2,000--
Privilege to perform with aerialist DollyJacobs.
At the beginning of January, she was mixed up with the most influential people in town, attending social columnist Marjorie North's social gathering, chatting and smiling in the east of Michael's, while standing aside, look at her proudly.
Many of these guests are among the 350 investors in the exclusive news Fund.
DingTalk often "pushes" people into the fund, said a local non-bank chief executivefor-
She watched her performance at many events.
"She's a front desk woman and she really uses her social relationships to ask people to invest," the executive said . ".
But many investors came to Scoop after hearing that the fund received an amazing return from friends, or because they met Moody's, or worked on the board with him or peeger.
Some investors just appreciate what Nader or moody has done for their favorite charity and give them money to manage as a thank youyou.
Molly Schechter, a rich volunteer and social columnist for The theLongboat observer, said that's why she invested.
Neil became interested in many of her charities and wanted to express her support for him.
"This is how things are done.
She said, "If you catch my back, I will catch your back . "
That's what Sarasota is.
Social life, charity and money are all interconnected, and it's natural to do business with people you meet and love and have fun at dinner and galas andboard retreat.
People may not know much about Moody and Nadel until they start making so much money for so many people, but they do know that at such times, salatota is lucky, he was still able to create wealth and was willing to return so much to the town.
But everyone's luck. -
Moody's, Nader, their investors and Sarasota's ---
Change on Wednesday, January.
On the 14 th, when Pegg Nadel called the police to say Art was missing.
He left her a handwritten note telling her that all the money was lost irretrievably. (
In the end, investigators will conclude that about half of these funds remain. )
Nadel wrote that he knew that people would want to kill him because of what he did, but he might commit suicide first.
Peig called the police and the police immediately launched a search.
She also called Neil Moody of the Securities and Exchange Commission ). SEC)
He said he was as shocked as she was.
In fact, everyone in the scoop claims they don't know the funds are illegal.
The scoop is approached by one
A group of two families and friends of their children.
The principal is Art and Peg Nadel, Neil Moody, and Chris, his son.
Fund manager Andy Martin went to Cardinal ey with Chris's wife, Tamara, and Michelle Bell also went to Scoop.
Michael Zukel, husband of Caroline Zukel, a board member of the Sarasota School, is an accountant, although he is not a CPA.
Neil and Chris have the responsibility to inform many charities and major investors, some of whom are their closest friends, that the fund has failed.
Many of them are skeptical about it.
"I laughed when Neil called to tell me the money was gone," Schechter said . ".
She invested a minimum of $100,000.
"That's my money.
"I know it can get bad, but I never thought I 'd lose it all," she said . ".
"I thought he was joking," recalled Jean Weidner, co-founder of the Sarasota Ballet.
The founder and main supporter of the design women's boutique.
After her trip to Africa with Moody's, she decided to invest $100,000 in these funds.
"When you were with someone for three weeks, you became friends with them," she said . "
"They are just very nice people. " [
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Neil and Chris insisted that they were surprised by the collapse of the fund and said that they and other family members also lost everything.
But many of those who heard the news, including Julian and emilipari, found it difficult to believe that Nadel would act alone.
Parris is Chris and Tamara Moody's best friend, says Emily.
Emily and Julian are one of the most striking young couples in town;
Their wedding in the colony was a highlight of the 2006 social season.
He is the founder of "interesting friends" who sells novel mobile phone sets;
She was a rising star in the observation group that published long boat watchers and other newspapers, owned by her father, Matt Walsh.
Julian and Tamara went to Cardinal Mooney.
Emily said she and Julian were surprised to watch as their friend's life changed almost overnight.
"When Chris went to work for his father, Chris and Tamara had been living in a house rented by the university," she said . ".
"Then they suddenly bought a big house in San Remo, removed it and renovated it.
A year later, they destroyed it again. " [
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Emily said that their young friends have seven cars. they are in St. ArmandsCircle.
"You want to know if there is anything suspicious about this," Emilie said . ".
"If my husband came home with Maserati, a diamond as big as Ritz and a jet, I would definitely ask him where the money came from.
But Chris always has an answer to everything.
Despite their doubts, they gave Chris $100,000 to invest in the funds.
Thursday, January. 15, at 7 a. m.
Chris came to their house in tears and told them their money. -and Nadel--had vanished.
She said that Emily and Julian haven't seen Chris in the last 10 days, which is very common.
They had been wondering where he was and if something went wrong.
"That morning, we knew it was all a big scam," Emilie said . ".
But you don't want to believe it because it's your friend.
"Neil Moody also called the charity involved in the fund to express his sadness and shame.
He promised a man that he would repay every penny himself one day.
Investors contacted their family and friends, and the executive director called their board of directors, and the news spread throughout the social world of Sarasota.
On Friday morning, panic calls began to enter the salatota police station, which was reported by the salatota Herald on Friday night --
Website of the Forum. White-
White-collar crime detective Jack Carter spent a week interviewing the principal and nearly a hundred victims.
Detective Carter's job is to find as many victims as possible.
This is essential to determine the size of the FBI and SEC cases.
Every communication he had was different, he said.
"Some people can't pass the interview without crying.
"Some of them are business," he recalls.
But this is heartbreaking.
There are some old people who have lost everything and have no place to go.
"Soon, investigators reported that Scoop charged an astonishing $95 million in management fees for the $0. 36 billion fund.
Unlike BernieMadoff's fund, which is a classic Ponzi scam that pays fictional returns from funds deposited by new investors, if Nadel does invest money in his clients
In the early days, he might even get some impressive returns through the histrading method.
But at some point, the fund began to lose money, and nadel began to fake reports.
The more he overstates profits, the more management fees a partner can charge, because these fees are partly based on profits.
Investigators believe that over time, the funds have become Ponzi scams, as Nader has used funds from new investors to pay extra fees;
But last fall, when the stock market collapsed and nervous investors began to take their money out, everything collapsed. The Herald-
The Tribune announced it was "the biggest scam in southwest Florida's history," and as the Madoff hedge fund scandal broke down in December, people still remember it, the national media said the missing Nadel was "mini"Madoff.
"The story appeared in The Wall Street Journal and regional newspaper from Norfolk, Va.
To Portland, Ore.
Bloomberg News, CNBC and Yahoo both reported the news, and NBC's late-night news host Brian Williams gave a story about it. [
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The police tracked Nader, Los Angeles.
When he called Peig on his mobile phone, he continued to evade arrest.
Finally, ten days after his disappearance, he turned himself in at the Tampa court with his sons Chris and peeger.
By that time, the scale of the crimes and apicture of the people who designed it had begun to emerge.
Susan Taylor Martin
The Peterborough Times has published a series of articles about Nader, some of which are surprisingly revealing.
Nader was born in New York in January 1933, she wrote.
His father is a tailor.
Art is a talented musician who studied at NYU undergraduate and law school by playing the piano.
In New York, he got married twice, had several children and divorced twice.
He moved to Sarasota in 1978 and worked with Richard Sanchez to transform the historic Mira March hotel into an apartment.
The project failed and the hotel was razed to the ground.
Failed marriage, failed development-
This is not unusual especially in Sarasota.
But in 1982, a very important thing happened, especially for those entrusted to handle the money of others.
That year, nadel was disqualified by New York for withdrawing $50,000 from another client's hosting account to help Sanchez repay usury debt.
He had already repaid the money after the client realized it was missing, but the lawyer ruled that "such a serious professional misconduct" should prevent him from enforcing the law.
Nadel knocked near Sarasota and played the piano in the restaurant for several years, such as family-style harmonies.
He got married in 1987.
Virginia Hoffman, KnownSarasota artist, served as an interior decorator and founded the Sarasota Design Gallery.
According to Martin.
Peterborough Times article, he tried to attract investors through the prospectus, claiming that the business was profitable at a time when he was sued for unpaid bills.
Some of Hoffman's friends accused him of selling their art but did not pay them.
Marriage ended on 1991.
Nadel soon married his fourth wife, Emilia Zak, but the marriage between the two ended in 1995.
Zach asked for $68,000 and Nader claimed he lost a piano --
There is a debt of $128,075.
Nader paid only a few hundred dollars in the end.
In the transcript, the judge noted that Nader's "poor reputation in the community and his response in cross-examination resulted in the court not trusting his position.
That's how his lawyer described him.
But even though his career was in trouble, some of the humanoid houses that knew him were "smart" or even "smart", a charming character who could enjoy dinner --
Working with his "fascinating story" on a jazz world adventure, including traveling with Dizzy Gillespie in Cuba as part of a music press Group.
Soon after his fourth divorce, Nadel was born with his fifth wife, the sole news company.
As an art lover and a long-term charity volunteer, peeger has been involved in many business events in Sarasota.
Susan Dennis, executive director of the Sarasota Opera House, said: "She is very smart, very cultural, fluent in French and can wave sledgehammer or sing aria . ".
Peg and Art started a day ago.
Trade club called insider scoop
At least 100 people joined.
They collect fees and use the club to download market information, compare transactions and make investments.
Art and Peg also set up a company specializing in computers.
Trading of portfolios.
The beat of art. the-system bullet.
Steve Ellis, Sarasota's personal trainer, said: "We all think this is the greatest thing since slicedbread . " He is a member of the investment club.
For the next 10 years Ellis, who owns a small gym, has invested every penny he can save.
"I think art is a bank," he said . "
Former Tropicana CEO Brock Leach met with Nader when they became human habitat, who chaired the committee at that time.
He said he was skeptical about the art trading system.
"It's a big mystery to me why investors support things that don't have safeguards," he said . ".
Nadel invited him to Scoopoffice to see what they did.
"There's a bunch of computer screens that make it look like a real trading desk, and Art explains making a point here and there.
You can see that you may be impressed if you are not skeptical.
There's a potential idea, a black one
The box model used to carry the system, "said Litch.
But the scoop must have impressed Neil Moody.
Moody's worked with Nader in 1999;
Nader began managing funds from Moody's Valhalla, Victor and Viking funds.
Neil's son, Chris, worked in a brokerage company like his father and joined the company two years later.
According to the Gulf Coast Business Review, Neil is The Rainmaker, a likable person
One investor described himself as "a good investor"
A salesman with blond hair.
I'm not a rocket scientist.
Investors are attracted by Moody's charm and connections and nadel's strading magic to flood these funds.
Some were reassured by Scoop's general counsel, Knight, the Netherlands and Florida's largest law firm, about the prospectus prepared for the fund.
Diana and John cloud heard about Nadal's magic from a private train.
When they sold the business, they used the Netherlands and the Knights, and Diana Yun said they were tricked when they saw the names they knew in the newspaper that Nader showed them.
Newspapers are so thick, so glowing.
"It makes them look like they're all successful people on Wall Street," said Diana . "Sheinvested $2. 5 million--Lost everything.
Even some investment experts were impressed by Nader.
Don Rowe, the amiable publisher of The Wall Street Journal in salatota, recommended the funds in several articles between 2001 and directed investors to invest in them in a fee-based manner.
Rowe called Nadel "top American player"
He wrote that he had conducted a "due diligence visit" to Nader and his partner's office ".
"26 years after reviewing the records of 11,000 mutual funds, 6,000 fund managers and 5,800 hedge funds, "Nader's computerized investment project has created the best track record and the most consistent return I have ever seen," said Rowedeclared.
With the growth of the business and the increase of profits, Nadel began to set foot in other businesses.
In 2005, he and peeger decided to invest 430 acres of land in Montenegro in the north of the United States. C.
There, they plan to develop an upscale mountain reserve that sells up to half a million dollars of land.
But falling property prices derailed the project.
They also invested in aircraft facilities and built the Venice aviation center.
There are some places where ept is not known.
11 hijackers took flight classes)
There are also Tradewind airlines in Atlanta, which has a lot of planes.
In 2005, they purchased a home/green building system for the development of cheap energy
Efficient Modular House-
Katrina Cottage"-
After Hurricane 2004 hit New Orleans
They bought it.
A popular sarasota flower shop.
As they fund opera, Catholic Charities, and girls' companies, their philanthropy is also expanding.
And other organizations.
They combined business and charity, and millions of people went into human habitat, sponsored a housing project, and learned that the habitat center would build more than a dozen families there.
Residents agreed to buy land on Central Avenue and start the project.
TheNadels did give Habitat $750,000, but the collapse of those funds led to eight layoffs in Habitat and would reduce the number of houses they could build, said Leach. [
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Some people who knew him said Nader was distracted by these new business interests.
When people asked him how to trade in all the trips, he replied that he could work anywhere.
But in the fall of 2008, some friends thought he looked thin and worried.
According to Lich, peeger told him in October 2008, "the art felt that he had lost history.
"By February and 3, lawyers had gathered together like a great army.
On April 29, a grand jury in New York accused Art Nadel of 15 securities fraud, mail fraud and wire transfer fraud.
During the march, he was sent to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where mega-
The liar Bernie Madoff lives. Nadel's high-pro-
Tampa's defense lawyer abandoned him when he was unable to pay for his lawyer, and on April, a judge assigned him as a public defense lawyer.
He pleaded not guilty;
If convicted, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
So far, no one else has been charged with the crime, although various lawsuits have been filed against Moody's, whose assets have been frozen, and lawyers are suing the Netherlands and Knight.
Moody's has partnered with authorities, and some have speculated that officials are also waiting to get all the information from them before accusing them.
Don Rowe of the Wall Street Journal has also been charged.
Lawsuit quoted Rowe's statement that he conducted due diligence on the fund's office and then retorted that, in fact, "No hedge fund has audited the financial statements, hedge fund accountants have lost their CPA license to practice in Florida, and investors have paid extra fees ---
When the fraud was discovered, it was over $90 million in total. -to Mr.
Nadal and his business partners Neil Moody and Christopher Moody
"Rovey is a hit for the Saragota Orchestra and other arts and charity events, where he suffered a stroke on the day of the lawsuit.
The story is still unfolding, not only for Nader and his exclusive Press Association, but also for investors, businesses and charities who have suffered heavy losses when their funds have fallen.
Some of the victims said that in the first few days they felt numb and just slowly realized that their beloved house, full of art and furniture, would have to be sold ---
Most likely, due to the shrinking real estate market, their former value has risen.
A woman described the pain of seeing a dealer hang out on her property, offering hundreds of dollars for tens of thousands of pounds of passing heir or jewelry.
Others have lost their homes and moved in with friends and relatives.
"Your heart is sinking," said a widow in her 70 s, who lives in a large beach house on Sarasota barrier island.
She says she has only a few thousand dollars in the bank and her house is now listed as short selling.
"You weigh every purchase," she said . "
"Did I give the dog the heart worm medicine, or did I take the vitamin?
What can I get in Publix and this will last for a week?
It is impossible to go out for dinner.
It will never be free.
This is my life now.
No one took care of me.
Sarasota lawyer Morgan Bentley represents 36 investors with a total investment increase from $500,000 to $8 million.
One of them was an airline pilot who relied on his own investment to fund his retirement.
"Humval missed the bill in his life," Bentley said . ".
The 66-year-old former pilot has filed for personal bankruptcy and is "looking for any job he can get, including bagging groceries.
"It is estimated that about 80 of the 350 people who invested in these funds received" false profits "and may be forced to repay the funds in order to distribute them among the victims.
Some people have agreed to pay back the money;
Others may have to work hard to get the money they spent a long time ago.
Enterprises have also suffered losses.
Tina litle said Neil and Chris Moody bought her 40 percent Queen's wreath jewelry at St, dragging her into a financial nightmare. Armands Circle.
"Four years ago, I was selling big jewelry and doing activities alone," she said . ".
"Neil Moody, a customer, asked, 'You don't need money?
Don't you need something?
He offered to develop my business several times and finally I had a meeting with Neil and Chris.
They are respected in the community, have deep connections in Y, and good friends also invest with them.
"She sold Chris and Neil £ 20 per business and used the funds to renovate the stores and stores.
Part of the deal is that Tina has to invest his income in Moody's fund.
When Neil told her that the money was gone, Tina said, "I don't understand at all what impact it would have on me.
All I wanted was to match people with beautiful pieces they would love --
And spread it through their families.
"After the fund expired, the receiver confiscated the $650,000 worth of jewelry purchased by Neil annchris for the store.
Litle says she has now regained full ownership of her business, which recently moved to the street and left the experience behind.
We are all stupid.
"We wanted the money but did not do homework," she said . ".
"But it makes no sense to be angry with the world.
"The impact on urban art and social services may last longer.
Millions of people flowing into different charities from exclusive news partners are gone, and people and projects are being cut from organizations in town.
These funds have collapsed, such as the Moody ca Foundation, which lost 13% of its assets when Moody's million assets shrank.
The dollar gift is gone, and small companies like the jazz club are gone, and the jazz club has to cut most of the scheduled concerts funded by Nader's donations.
Donorswho, invested with Scoop partners, in part because their charity activities have now been reduced ---Nothing even. -to give.
People are confused about Moody's and Pegg Nader.
Are they criminals or criminals?
As far as Neil Moody is concerned, Molly shecht sees the latter as the latter.
"Neil Moody is not a predator . "
"He's a damn fool.
Morgan Bentley disagrees.
"I think Moody's is the most important thing in this matter," he said . ".
He noted that in a report commissioned in 2003, external evaluators identified serious problems, ranging from inadequate internal control to operational deficiencies, and concluded that, the accounting and performance of the fund cannot be accurately certified.
The company's proposal to hire a nationally renowned accounting firm has never been adopted.
Moody's said he asked for an audit by Nader, but he refused.
"It's a huge danger for people with years of brokerage experience and 7 Series licenses," Bentley said . ".
No matter what guilt they have, Moody's and peeger have stirred up anger and anger in their previous social circles.
An investor attacked Sharon for having a friend at Met spa a few days after the news came out.
She replied with tears: "This may be my last facial care . "
Bentley said she received a phone call from angry people because they saw Neil Ann salon at the Stadium Club and wanted to know what he could do.
"At least art has the feeling of escaping," he said . "
When Emily Parry told Chris Moody that their money was missing for a week and he saw Chris Moody on the street, he complained to her, "I'm working hard --
I did not get paid time to work.
She was shocked by this sentence.
"He is working with the FBI and the SEC to complain that there is no reward for working with the authorities! " she says.
On the other hand, Peg Nadel is considered sad --
Very poor.
She insisted: "No matter what happens, it is not intentional . "
When Art was arrested, friends said that Peg was concerned about this mental state and physical health.
Some felt that she did not understand that he had betrayed her trust and the seriousness of the crime he had been accused of committing.
A few weeks after his arrest, Peg was scheduled to be commended at an evening event for donating money to St.
Jude Catholic Church
Despite the constant scandal, she was going to go and just changed her mind a few days before the incident.
A few months later, she called a charity and said she wanted to attend a luncheon, "sit with the Symphonies ".
A staff member said that after checking the guest list, they had to tell her, "if she comes, it may not be very pleasant for her.
"The Scoop News scam that shocked the social world of Sarasota is shocking, but it's not the first in our city. Get-
From our father, circus performer John Linlin, to developers for decades, they fled the city for a magnificent building that never rose.
Easy access to Sarasota society.
We are a place of flow, full of newcomers, with short memories and too much trust in the next bigger new Warriorthan-
The charm of life is still a big idea.
When this great idea may make us rich, it is easy to forget common sense or ignore the red flag.
A trader, without an audit, the largest storefront on the Main Street ---
None of these alarms upset investors.
Some people were even warned.
"People know that art has been canceled," said Virginia Hoffman, his third wife . ". "I toldthem.
But they just don't want to believe it.
"It turns out that Nader and his partners have gained all the credibility they need by connecting with the charity that defines and distinguishes Sarasota.
You can be a power-
Crazy trophy wife, lawyer, or anything else.
You come to a party.
You're better off giving you thousands of dollars.
A little more, you can join a major board or write your name on a building, a room, a bathroom.
Instant social status, plenty of new and best friends, and easy access to everyone's checkbook and trust account.
Bentley says many others play charity games to implement their plans, but unfortunately the release of the scoop comes as a "perfect storm" in other financial sectors hits, the charitable world of madsarasota is extremely fragile.
In addition to the property and stock market crash, we have Madoff, Nader and Stanford, he said. " (Houston-
Stanford-based financial group was taken over in February after the SEC accused it of operating a "massive Ponzi scam;
Its long boat key office, high support
Local charities closed).
As a result, the wealth of Sarasota has disappeared.
This can have serious consequences for our entire community.
"We have been able to rely on our wealthy retirees to protect us from the recession," Bentley said . ".
"This is our ace.
But now these people have suffered a heavy blow, which will be devastating.
Leslie glass reports on the final Sarasota portfolio of money, society, charity and crime.
Theater and screen Reporter
Writer Leslie Glass is a resident of Saragota and author of 14 nov els, including nine suspense novels by the New York Police Department Sgt. April Woo.
She wrote a season in the social detective column.