Michael Balboa, a former portfolio manager at Millennium Global Investments, was sued by the SEC over claims he engaged in a fraud scheme involving Nigerian sovereign debt.
Mr. Balboa and Gilles De Charsonville, described by regulators as an independent broker based in Madrid, allegedly overvalued two illiquid and sizable securities positions and were able to “generate millions of dollars in illegitimate management and performance fees,” according to the complaint filed Thursday in federal court in New York,
Mr. Balboa’s portfolio suffered almost $1 billion in losses and was forced to close in October 2008 in the wake of the credit crisis, the SEC said in court papers.
Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday filed a related criminal complaint against Mr. Balboa, charging him with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, and separate counts of wire and securities fraud. Mr. De Charsonville wasn’t named in the criminal complaint.
