The Gryphon scheme lasted from 2005 to 2010, according to the indictment. The company falsely claimed to have a trading desk and a $1.4 billion hedge fund, the government said.
Burlingame, the prosecutor, told jurors that Gryphon's sales force, which Anderson was a part of, lied to potential investors about Marsh's name, educational background and career history, and didn't tell them that he'd been barred from the securities industry.
"The defendant is charged with fraud -- lying to people to convince them to send millions of dollars of their money," he said.
Pen Name
Padden said that when Anderson, a native of Jamaica who lives on Staten Island, started with Gryphon in 2007, Marsh told him he was allowed to use the "pen name" of Michael Warren because they were selling investment newsletters.
Anderson, who previously sold mattresses, "is a decent, honest, hardworking man" and "not some scam artist," Padden said.
Anderson is charged with securities fraud, 27 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit those crimes. In one wire- fraud count, he is charged with telling a victim he could recoup his losses by buying a Gryphon service that cost $50,000.
"You gotta do those trades, that's how you're gonna pay your balance and put money in your pocket," Anderson said in pitching a $25,000 advisory plan to a client who already owed Gryphon for previous services, according to the SEC complaint.
Gryphon's website falsely claimed an endorsement from George Soros, the billionaire hedge-fund manager, according to the SEC suit.
The criminal case is U.S. v. Marsh, 10-cr-00480, and the SEC case is SEC v. Gryphon Holdings Inc., 10-cv-01742, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).