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MANHATTAN---A former investment banker at Brean Murray & Co., a New York investment bank, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin in Manhattan to 37 months in prison for stealing approximately $990,000 from clients of Brean Murray.
As an investment banker at Brean Murray, prosecutors said that Lorne Caplan, 41, who resides in Stamford, Conn., was responsible for acting as an intermediary between companies issuing securities and public investors. From time to time, acting in his role as an investment banker, Caplan would contact clients seeking to invest in securities and facilitate the purchase of such securities. Caplan would also provide professional advice to those clients regarding investment opportunities.
Starting in June 2001, according to the charges, Caplan solicited investors for investments in two companies: Standard Mems, a company which manufactures and Natra-Bio, a purported bio-technology stock fund, which in fact was a shell company owned by Caplan. Prosecutors said he received a total of approximately $990,000 from victims for these investments, but instead of investing the funds, Caplan converted the funds to his personal use.
For example, prosecutors said bank records for Natra-Bio, Inc. showed that one day after a victim wired approximately $250,000 to this shell company, Caplan transferred approximately $100,000 of these funds into his personal bank account, approximately $50,000 into the account of his wife, and withdrew approximately $59,800 in cash.
On November 30, 2005, Caplan pleaded guilty, admitting that he lied to his clients and, without their authorization, diverted the clients' money for his personal use. 5-31-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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