The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred a Massachusetts hedge fund manager from the brokerage industry after claiming that he embezzled approximately $570,000 from the funds run by entities he controlled. These funds were used to pay for personal expenses, including tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, Broadway shows, jewelry and vacations.
The SEC on Friday entered a final judgment against Eric D. Lyons, permanently enjoining him from future violations. Lyons, a resident of Concord, Mass., neither admitting nor denying the findings, submitted an offer of settlement agreeing to the sanctions.
According to the SEC complaint, Lyons, 49, and another individual founded the Synchrony hedge fund business in 2012 with the formation of Synchrony Capital as the advisor to, and manager of, the Synchrony Value Fund. The business was initially founded as an investment vehicle for the extended family of Lyons, who paid him through the fund to serve as their investment advisor.
The SEC said Lyons offered investments in three hedge funds structured as limited partnerships, which he marketed under the name Synchrony. In each Synchrony fund, Lyons exercised exclusive control over the general partners’ operations, trading strategies and investments. He received compensation derived from periodic asset-based fees that the general partners charged the funds, the SEC said.
The complaint alleged that in 2017 and 2018, while acting as an investment advisor to the Synchrony funds, Lyons misappropriated approximately $570,000 from them. He misused the funds to pay personal expenses, including $9,000 on sailing activities; approximately $6,500 on entertainment expenses, including tickets to a Taylor Swift concert and Broadway shows; $2,000 on summer camp fees; and other personal expenses such as clothing, jewelry, rent and car lease payments.
Further, the complaint alleged that, in an effort to replace some of this misappropriated money, Lyons induced an investor to invest $300,000 in one of his general partnerships by making false and materially misleading statements about a purported large-scale investment offer in a Synchrony fund and a purported hundred million dollar business valuation for his advisory business.
The final judgment in the SEC’s case permanently enjoins Lyons from future violations. He was barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment advisor, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization.