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...Spiro Germenis!

Congratulations, Sprio. Here's a wee sample of the SEC’s complaint against you:

31. Several clients gave Germenis their retirement accounts to manage. For example, a married couple gave Germenis and Oracle Services more than $177,000 from a retirement account to manage in 1998. The agreement the clients signed with Oracle provided that, with respect to fees, the clients would pay, on a quarterly basis, ".0025% of the net assets invested in the mutual funds" and ".00625 of the net assets invested in individual securities." Oracle Services and Germenis began looting the account by charging monthly management fees of up to $9,500, without the clients' consent and contrary to the terms of the agreement between Oracle Services and.the clients. Under the agreement, the clients should have been charged a quarterly fee that would have been a small fraction of the monthly fee Germenis extracted for himself. Germenis gave the clients phony account statements reflecting growth in the account but not mentioning the exorbitant, unauthorized fees.

32. The couple also periodically received statements in the mail fi-om the brokerage house at which the account was maintained reflecting a much lower balance. On numerous occasions, the wife asked Germenis about the statements reflecting a low balance. Each time, Germenis assured her that the account statement reflecting a low balance was a mistake and offered a reason. For example, in February 2006, the couple received a Fidelity statement in the mail showing a balance of about $45,619.39. The wife called Germenis, who came to her house and handed her an account statement that he had fabricated for the same period showing an account balance of $25 1,566.29. Germenis assured her that the Fidelity statement they had received was wrong. In fact, the Fidelity statement was correct. The clients' account currently has just over $40,000.

Yikes, I never thought a guy named Spiro could be a criminal.

Unfortunately, Mr. Germenis won’t be able to accept the award in person as he has fled the country:

According to civil charges filed last week against the president and founder of a raft of related investment funds under the Oracle Services and Oracle Evolution names, the Dix Hills resident fled to Athens last month after "misappropriating millions of dollars of investor funds." His car was found at Kennedy Airport, and more than $6 million in client investments, including money belonging to his father-in-law, is missing, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn by the Securities and Exchange Commission. People familiar with the case said Germenis, 34, is believed to be on the Greek island of Kefalonia, where his parents have a house.

Yep, this isn't going to end well.

Posted by edelfenbein at November 22, 2006 1:02 PM