| The owner of two Cambridge-based investment advisory firms was sentenced in federal court last Thursday in connection with a scheme to defraud hedge fund investors.
Yasuna J. Murakami, 45, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to six years in prison and three years of supervised release. The court also ordered Murakami to pay $10.5 million in restitution and forfeit a luxury sports car that was purchased with proceeds of the fraud. Murakami pleaded guilty to wire fraud in January.
Murakami was a managing member of MC2 Capital Management LLC and MC2 Canada Capital Management LLC, investment advisory firms through which he established and managed three hedge funds: the MC2 Capital Partners Fund, MC2 Capital Value Fund and MC2 Capital Canadian Opportunities Fund.
Between 2011 and 2016, Murakami fraudulently diverted millions of dollars of investor funds to business and personal accounts that he controlled. He used the money to pay for lavish personal expenses such as a luxury sports car, international travel and payments to personal credit cards and high-end department stores. Murakami used new investor contributions to make Ponzi scheme-like payments to earlier investors who had made redemption requests and to place investments in his own name.
As part of the fraud, Murakami withheld material information regarding the management of the MC2 Canadian Opportunities Fund and provided investors with falsified account statements and tax documentation in an effort to lull them into believing that their investments were safe.
In a parallel action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced securities fraud charges against Murakami and his hedge fund advisory firms in May 2017. The SEC also filed charges against Murakami’s former business partner, Avi Chiat, in connection with the scheme. The Massachusetts Securities Division filed civil fraud charges against Murakami for the same conduct in January 2017.
