(Bloomberg News) New York money manager Guy de Chimay, who pleaded not guilty in June to charges that he stole millions of dollars in client funds, was accused of stealing another $690,000.
Chimay, chairman and chief investment officer of Chimay Capital Management Inc., appeared in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan for arraignment on the new charges that included four counts of grand larceny and two of securities fraud. Judge Gregory Carro set bail at $1 million on the new charges after another judge earlier today set the same amount on the old ones.
Chimay, who claims to be related to European royalty, is accused of running a Ponzi scheme that took almost $7 million from several victims, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. He used the money to pay credit card bills, rent on a summer home in the Hamptons section of Long Island, his mortgage, and to redeem investor draws from his hedge fund.
"Instead of using this money for any investment, he used this for a personal piggy bank," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Aaron Wolfson told Carro. The new indictment shows that Chimay "violated the trust of a friend of his for more than a decade," he said.
Martin Edelman, Chimay's attorney, has said his client denies committing any fraud.
Forgery, Larceny
The ex-money manager was initially charged with grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument and a felony violation of general business law. If convicted of the top count of grand larceny, he faces as much as 25 years in prison.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately sued Chimay June 11, alleging he and his firm pushed investments he claimed were tied to the Chimay royal family of Belgium. Chimay Capital claimed to be the U.S. investment arm of the royal family based in the Belgium's Chimay region and dating to the 14th century, according to the SEC.
The SEC also obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Chimay and his firm.
Chimay solicited money from October 2008 to September 2009 for a bridge facility that he said would make lucrative short- term loans to firms with ties to the Belgian royal family, the SEC said in its complaint. There is no evidence that any loans were made and some funds were used to pay off disgruntled investors in Chimay's other business ventures, the agency said.