http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=as0dq6b6tIaw Excerpt: "Berger came to New York from Austria in 1993, just before his 23rd birthday, according to court documents. He hadn't finished college and enrolled in a teller-training program at a savings and loan bank in Austria, working in its money management group briefly before heading to the U.S., according to his former employer, Salzburger Sparkasse Bank AG. By 1996, Berger had opened Manhattan Investment Fund on Park Avenue, eventually raising more than $575 million from investors." From bank teller to Master of the Universe... America, the land of opportunity like no other.
The bigger lesson is: Never ever go against the herd....err, I mean "Trend". Over the next four years, Berger reported gains of between 12 percent and 28 percent a year to his 280 investors, according to court papers. In reality, he was hemorrhaging cash -- about $400 million in all -- as he made money-losing bets that technology shares would tumble, according to court papers. ``He kept investing against the technology bubble, but he was off by years,'' Musoff said.
I remember this guy. He's the one who had the big short positions against all those overvalued TECH stocks in the late 90's. The market keep going against him until I guess he ran out of capital. It goes to prove the market can be irrational and overvalued a lot longer than a trader can stay liquid. This was the guy and I remember it now, if he had stayed in the game would have made a killing on his positions. Of course lying to investors is a NO NO and jail time is due, but this guy was right as far as betting in the correct direction the market was eventually going.
http://atlanta.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/embezzlement050107.htm ... still happens today. These guys deserve jail.