To carry out his Ponzi-like fraud, Caspersen created fake e-mail addresses, set up misleading domain names and invented fictional financiers, the U.S. said.
Caspersen worked for Coller Capital for about a decade before moving in 2013 to PJT’s Park Hill Group, then a part of private equity giant Blackstone Group LP. Park Hill, which helps raise capital for hedge funds, private equity firms and secondary funds, was spun off by Blackstone in October and is now owned by PJT.
The Moore Charitable Foundation, which seeks to preserve and protect natural resources, said Caspersen lied about an investment related to the publicly announced restructuring of a private equity fund. Caspersen promised annual returns of 15 percent, authorities said. The foundation said it notified the general counsel at PJT, who then alerted Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
From late 2014, Caspersen “conducted a number of unauthorized and unlawful transactions outside the scope of his employment with Park Hill,” PJT said in a regulatory filing. He acted alone, and his victims weren’t PJT clients, the firm said.
Airport Arrest
Caspersen was taken into custody March 26 at New York’s LaGuardia Airport as he returned from a family vacation in Florida. He appeared in court two days later on charges of wire fraud and securities fraud. A judge released him on a $5 million bail and directed him to undergo alcohol testing and treatment as well as a mental-health evaluation and counseling.
Soon after his arrest, his lawyer said Caspersen was hospitalized in a secure unit at New York Hospital. His bail terms were modified, and he posted $1.5 million in cash and his Manhattan apartment.
The case is U.S. v. Caspersen, 16-mj-2011, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).