MarketWatch – The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged securities broker and investment adviser Global Crown Capital LLC with fraudulently hiding from investors the trading losses of hedge fund Cogent Capital Management.
The agency alleges that Rani Jarkas and Antoine Chaya, principals of San Francisco-based Global Crown, sent misleading account statements to investors in the Cogent hedge fund that falsely inflated the fund’s performance.
Loulie Genato, an employee of Global Crown, declined to comment and said no one else was immediately available on Thursday.
Within three months of Cogent’s 2003 inception, the fund experienced trading losses of over 20%, according to an order filed by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
Rather than disclose the losses to investors, Jarkas and Chaya added an unfunded “reserve” of over $200,000 to Cogent’s balance, the SEC alleges.
