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Saturday, February 21, 2009

02/21/09 When It Comes To Walter Noel And Greenwich Fairfield: We Hate To Say We Told You So .......

The Fairfield Greenwich Group Deathwatch Continues:

FIRST GREENWICH ROUNDUP REPORTED.......


Local Greenwich Sources Tell Greenwich Roundup ....

Hedge fund firm Fairfield Greenwich, which lost more than half of its assets to scummier Bernard Madoff, is in the process of or preparing to winding down operations and could shutter its doors by summer.


The fund, which is headed by Greenwich Resident Walter Noel has been rumored to have cut its staff by 30 - 50% Greenwich Roundup has learned and people familiar with the situation have said that some remaining Fairfield Greenwich employees have been told that they may be let go by late July. Generous severance packages are being offered to keep key staff members on board and quite.
Walter "Feeder Fund" Noel lost a who headed the Fairield Sentry Fund "invested" a whopping $7.5 Billion with his chum Bernard Madoff. Fairfield Greenwich Investors have been lead to believe that there was an additional $6,5 Billion left to pay investors back. This might not be entirely accurate......

.....Walter Noel who long ago suspended investor redemption requests for non-family members and is now apparently working toward selling off the firms surviving assets held in offshore tax havens.

Also wounded by the Madoff scandal is hedge fund firm Tremont Group run by Mass Mutual . The Rye New York fund also lost more than half of its assets ($3.1 Billion) to Madoff. Press reports last week said that Tremont was in the process of shutting down operations.

THEN THE NEW YORK POST EXCLUSIVELY CONFIRMED THE SELL OFF JUST TEN DAYS LATER......


MADOFF SELL-OFF:

Times are getting tough for Walter Noel and Jeffrey Tucker

Fairfield Greenwich Brass Recently Dumped A Shared Interest In A Cessna 560XL Private Jet

Greenwich Fairfield heads Walter Noel and Jeffrey Tucker have been selling off their fortune in anticipation of legal action

Melanie Tucker has had to cut back on her bridge habit

New York Post

The founders of a New York hedge fund at the center of the Bernard Madoff scandal have begun selling assets as their firm faces massive losses and a slew of lawsuits, sources told The Post.....

The pair recently dumped a shared interest in a Cessna 560XL private jet, according to a person close to the firm.

The duo purchased a one-sixteenth share in the jet in late 2006, giving them between 25 and 50 hours of use a year. Experts estimate the sale saves them a portion of the plane's $200,000 annual maintenance fees, plus $2,000 for each hour of use.

Meanwhile, Tucker - the lesser-known founder of the Madoff-scarred firm - is looking to sell his posh horse farm in Schuylerville, NY, near Saratoga Springs .....

NOW GREENWICH BLOGGER CHRIS FOUNTAIN FURTHER CONFIRMS THAT FAIRFIELD GREENWICH IS SHUTTING DOWN .......


A reader alerts me that Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group has taken down its website - or at least its wonderful due diligence page in which it promised to investigate anyone they entrusted money to. Sadly, when I wrote on December 14, 2008 about FGG’s complete failure to conduct due diligence on Bernie Madoff I linked to their site, rather than make a copy of the page and post that. So the link’s now defunct. Oh well, I’m sure it will show up in court pretty soon.

UPDATE: Here it is, thanks to Google’s cache system. Just to make it doesn’t get lost again, Walt, ‘m posting it on my site - fewer accidental erasures, don’t you know.

This is Google’s cache of https://www.fggus.com/guest/due_diligence.html. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Feb 15, 2009 05:10:40 GMT.

The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more
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02/21/09 National Futures Association Suspends Greenwich Traders Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh -

You Wont Read About This In The Greenwich Time......

Do We Have A Mini-Bernie Madoff Ponzie Scheme Right Here In Greenwich?

THE HEADLINES:

YOU THOUGHT FAIRFIELD GREENWICH GROUP WAS BAD:
What About WG Trading?

Paul Greenwood And Stephen Walsh Make Greenwich Resident Walter "Feeder Fund" Noel Look Like A Boy Scout

University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University files Federal lawsuit against Greenwich Traders Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh

Pitt and CMU have also notified the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission About Greenwood And Walsh

THE QUOTE:

"We don't want to talk with you. Why would we want to talk to a reporter," said a woman at Paul Greenwood's Westchester, N.Y., home who identified herself as his wife.

THE SOURCE:

Pitt, Carnegie Mellon suing investment manager
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

THE REPORTERS:

By Len Boselovic and Jonathan D. Silver

THE STORY:

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University yesterday filed suit against Westridge Capital Management and its operators, seeking the immediate return of more than $114 million they invested. They also asked a federal judge to appoint a receiver to oversee the investment manager.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, comes after the two universities said they were unable to collect the money from Westridge or get documentation regarding the status of their money from Westridge's principal partners, Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh.

Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh were suspended last week by the National Futures Association, an industry regulatory agency, after they failed to cooperate with an audit the association launched on Feb. 5....

... They became concerned after the Chicago-based National Futures Association took action against Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh for not answering questions about more than $500 million in loans made by two Westridge investment funds to WG Trading Investors, a Greenwich, Conn., firm whose managing general partners are Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh

Late yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Terrence F. McVerry issued a temporary restraining order against Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Walsh, Westridge, WG Trading Investors and two commodities funds.

The order freezes their accounts, allowing the companies to pay normal business expenses, including payroll, but prohibiting paychecks to Mr. Greenwood or Mr. Walsh.

It also prohibits Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh from "concealing, transferring, gifting, encumbering, selling, liquidating or conveying" assets, including money in bank accounts.
They and their four affiliates are also prohibited from destroying, concealing or disposing records.....

.....According to the lawsuit, $324 million from the enhanced index funds was loaned to WG Trading Investors, an entity controlled by Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh.

A second commodities fund, WG Trading Co., also managed by Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh, loaned $194.5 million to WG Trading Investors, the complaint stated.

Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh "have converted investor funds for their own use," the lawsuit said.......

.....According to the lawsuit, Mr. Kennedy flew to New York on Monday and called on Westridge offices in Greenwich and Jersey City, N.J. Attorneys at both offices declined to turn over documents.

When Mr. Kennedy asked at the Connecticut office who was in charge, an attorney there said "that the answer was 'tricky,' " according to the lawsuit.

CMU notified the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the following day and in a Wednesday phone call urged the agency to investigate.

The lawsuit indicates CMU also contacted the SEC, which is in the midst of several high-profile investigations, including the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme operated by New York investment manager Bernie Madoff......

.....When Mr. Lawrence inquired about Pitt's investment, they told him they believed the "money was there."

But they also said they could not be certain because they had not spoken with Mr. Greenwood or Mr. Walsh.

Later that day, Pitt treasurer Amy March asked Mr. Carder why the futures association said the enhanced index funds managed $1.3 billion in assets when Mr. Greenwood had told Mr. Lawrence on Jan. 21 that the figure was $2.8 billion. Mr. Carder responded that the $2.8 billion figure was actually $1.8 billion.

The lawsuit said that Mr. Carder told CMU officials on Sunday that his career was over and he expressed shock over the conduct of his "partners of more than 20 years."

In their joint statement, the schools said there is "insufficient information available" to determine how many entities or accounts Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Walsh control, the account balances, the financial condition of each entity, or when investors will get their money.

PLEASE SEE:




.....The MRA suspends Greenwood and Walsh from NFA membership indefinitely. The MRA also prohibits Greenwood and Walsh or anyone acting on their behalf from soliciting or accepting any customer or pool participant funds and they are prohibited from placing trades for any pools that they operate or control except to liquidate existing positions. Additionally, the MRA prohibits them from disbursing or transferring any funds from any accounts which either of them own, control or which are held in either of their names without prior approval from NFA......
THE GREENWICH TIME IS
BEHIND THE TIMES:
Greenwich Time, CT - Feb 18, 2009
By Michael C. Juliano
STAFF WRITER
Posted: 02/18/2009 10:16:19 PM EST
Two Greenwich investors have been suspended by the National Futures Association for not disclosing their financial records and failing to answer questions involving hundreds of millions of dollars......
...."We're just trying to track where this money is going, and they're not being helpful," said association spokesman Larry Dyekman.

According to documents from the National Futures Association, the Chicago-based group began auditing Greenwood and Walsh on Feb. 5. They have been registered as commodity pool operators since 1997.
.....The association took the appropriate action in suspending their memberships, which are required for them to conduct business, said Patricia McCoy, a professor of financial services law at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

"There is serious concern that they may have something to hide," she said. "Maybe they don't, but it smells really bad."
HERE IS A LITTLE HELP FOR HEARST NEWSPAPER REPORTER MICHAEL JULIANO IF HE DECIDES TO COVER
THIS BREAKING NEWS STORY:
HOPEFULLY, THIS TIME IT WONT TAKE REPORTER MICHAEL JULIANO A WEEK TO GET THE STORY OUT.

Paul Greenwood at WG Trading Company Greenwich Connecticut ...
Paul Greenwood at WG Trading Company in Greenwich, Connecticut. Contact: Paul Greenwood, Phone: 203-629-7628

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY et al v. WESTRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC. et al

Plaintiffs: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY and UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Defendants:WESTRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC., WG TRADING COMPANY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, WESTRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENT FUNDS, INC., WG TRADING INVESTORS, LP, PAUL GREENWOOD, STEPHEN WALSH, JACK ELDRED REYNOLDS, JAMES CARDER and DEBORAH DUFFY

Case Number: 2:2009cv00215

Filed: February 20, 2009

Court: Pennsylvania Western District Court

Office: Pittsburgh Office

County: Allegheny

Presiding Judge: Terrence F. McVerry

Nature of Suit: Other Statutes - Securities/Commodities/Exchanges

Cause: 28:1337 Sherman-Clayton Act

Jurisdiction: Federal
Let's All Wish Greenwich Time Reporter Michael Juliano Good Luck In Catching Up With The Almost Amazing And Semi-Incredible Greenwich Roundup.
The Truth Is Greenwich Roundup Could Beat Greenwich Time Reporter Michael Juliano In His Sleep.
That Is Is If Greenwich Roundup Did Sleep


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