Former Visium Fund Manager Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison Jun 15 2017 | 12:54am ET Former Visium Asset Management portfolio manager Stefan Lumiere was sentenced in Manhattan federal court Wednesday to a year and a half in prison after being found guilty earlier this year on securities fraud charges. The sentence, handed down by Judge Jed Rakoff includes a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had argued that a prison sentence of up to 14 years would be appropriate, according to Reuters. After the sentencing, Lumiere’s lawyers said they were pleased their arguments had found some traction with the court and that Lumiere would be appealing the conviction. Lumiere was convicted in January of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud charges related to an investigation of Visium, which managed some $8 billion at its peak, into whether he and others conspired from 2011 to 2013 to mismark the value of securities held by one of the company’s bond funds by obtaining sham quotes from brokers. The investigation ultimately resulted in charges against three others, including Sanjay Valvani, a portfolio manager on the firm’s flagship healthcare fund who committed suicide only a week after insider trading charges were unveiled against him. The probe also resulted in Visium returning capital to investors and closing late last year. The case is U.S. v. Lumiere, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-cr-00483. from FINALTERNATIVES