Louis Bacon, Moore Capital ManagementHedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon’s charity foundation
said it was duped by Park Hill Group’s Andrew Caspersen as part of his
scheme to defraud investors.
The Moore Charitable Foundation “was lied to… regarding a potential investment related to the publicly announced restructuring of a private equity fund,” it said in a statement.
Bacon’s environmental conservation foundation gave Caspersen $25 million believing it would be invested in a legitimate fund, only to find the operation was phony and “under the control of Mr. Caspersen.”
Upon discovering “irregularities in a proposed follow-on deal,” the foundation notified Park Hill’s parent company PJT Partners and cooperated with PJT and authorities’ investigations, the charity said.
US prosecutors charged and arrested Caspersen with securities and wire fraud late this month.
The 39-year-old used the foundation’s $25 million investment for his own use, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Caspersen lost the majority of the stolen money through “aggressive options trading.”
Caspersen also allegedly scammed $400,000 from an employee at Bacon’s hedge fund Moore Capital Management with his fake investments.
Before his arrest, Caspersen attempted to solicit another $20 million from the foundation and $50 million from a private equity firm, the US Securities and Exchange Commission added.
PJT said it has terminated Caspersen, who worked as a managing principal at the secondaries advisory firm since 2013, upon discovering his alleged fraud.
Bacon founded the Moore Charitable Foundation in 1992 as a private family foundation. He and his wife Gabrielle Bacon lead its operations, along with Moore Capital’s head of public relations Ann Colley.
