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Alcibiades Cifuentes, 36, and his wife Jennifer Wee Cifuentes, 38, ran a hedge fund, Cifuentes Fund Management, which they said was investing in foreign currencies and commodities.
In reality, for three years beginning in 2012, the couple took investors' money and bought jewelry, an Audi R8 and other items. They took some cash from more recent investors in the fund and gave it to older investors, falsely claiming the cash was proceeds from the investments. All told, they bilked about two dozen investors of about $500,000.
Each of them have pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and theft by a commodity pool operator.
Each count of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy to which the defendants pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the scheme. The count of commodities theft to which the defendants pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain or loss.
Sentencing for Alcibiades Cifuentes is scheduled for Feb. 27, and for Jennifer Wee Cifuentes on the following day.
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