There's probably a lot more complexities to the story outside of the public realm. We'll just have to see how it plays out. My guess is it will eventually become old news as another scam gets discovered and makes the headlines. It just shows, however, that if you're running OPM, you're going to be subject to scrutiny and oversight. Regardless of the strategy, just make the proper disclosures, don't over leverage, and keep raking in the fees, lol!
I tried and tried to tell people this might be a scam because she wasn't publishing audited returns. Watch a few seasons of 'American Greed' on Amazon and you will understand that these scams happen all the time. My relative was just taken for a good portion of his life savings by a shady broker.
It's funny how many called this early on but it took nearly 4 years for her to get caught. How come the red flags didn't go up in 2012?
I can't believe people still fall for these scams and tricks on wallstreet...... To think anyone can achieve such perfect returns year after year has to raise heavy doubts. Look at Cohen and how much he paid to the SEC a couple of years ago....over $600 million
I reread this whole thread, it was quite entertaining... Who said anything about investors with a clue? According to the complaint, "Investor A" didn't even understand how the fees were calculated, yet he trusted Karen with 65 mill or so...
Tastyboys doubling down in their support of Karen, nobody else understands. https://www.tastytrade.com/tt/shows/talkin-with-tom-and-tony
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/td-ameritrade-to-buy-thinkorswim-for-606-million Ellis said Thinkorswim, with about 94,000 clients and $2.9 billion in client assets, has clients who trade, on average, 450 times a year. He said that drives about 60% of Thinkorswim's revenue. "Each trade runs between $10 and $20 per leg, and the typical options trade has 3 legs in the chain," he said. Average account then is worth $13,500 per year in commissions
The caller starts around the 18 min mark and it lasts about 10 minutes. Some interesting comments by Tom, in a nutshell: * The documents (i.e. disclosure documents) were poorly structured * Karen "underpaid" herself, and her payment structure was unconventional * She didn't have proper legal advice * She did something nobody had done before, by making $100 mil on the big S&P contract * TOS had access to her account since they had to managing the risk * Investors made money * The SEC complaint will result in a settlement (since you "can't fight" the SEC) * It's "sad" and "unfortunate"