D.A. Vance Announces Indictment of Guy De Chimay, Accused of Stealing $7 Million in Ponzi Scheme

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of GUY DE CHIMAY for running a Ponzi scheme that resulted in thefts totaling nearly $7 million from several victims. DE CHIMAY is charged with multiple counts of felony Grand Larceny, in addition to Forgery and other crimes.

 

“DE CHIMAY perpetrated a large-scale fraud on trusting investors,” said District Attorney Vance. “His scheme involved all manner of deceit – he lied about who he was, how he was managing his clients’ finances, and he even forged bank documents to back up his bogus story. The defendant preyed upon friends and clients who trusted him. When greed trumps loyalty to the investing public, everyone loses.”

 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed an enforcement action against DE CHIMAY in federal court in Manhattan.

 

According to documents filed in state and federal court, DE CHIMAY enticed investors and friends into his scheme by telling them that he was a close member of the Chimay royal family of Belgium, with the ability to access “family money” in excess of $200 million. DE CHIMAY also claimed that he himself held more than $40 million in a bank in Bermuda. Relying on false claims of both his family connections and his own net worth, DE CHIMAY convinced individuals to lend or invest money with him for schemes that were, for the most part, illusory. Further, to support his claims, DE CHIMAY presented forged bank statements purporting to show large amounts of assets under his control. In fact, those assets did not exist.

 

DE CHIMAY lured people into his scheme by telling them that they would be investing in what he described as a “Bridge Loan Facility,” according to documents filed in court. He claimed that funds in the Bridge Loan Facility (“BLF”) were supposed to go to specific investments that would generate quick and profitable returns for investors. Instead, DE CHIMAY stole his investors’ funds and used them primarily for his own personal use. The defendant’s illegal use of investor funds included: (a) paying outstanding credit card bills; (b) paying for his summer rental home in the Hamptons; (c) paying his mortgage; (d) making car payments; (e) redeeming an investor in his hedge fund; (f) providing operating expenses to another investment firm; (g) paying his company’s landlord; and (h) paying back other investors in the BLF in order to avoid detection of his fraud. Furthermore, the assurances that DE CHIMAY made to investors regarding the BLF were false.

 

DE CHIMAY was arrested on Friday, June 11, 2010, in North Carolina. On June 21, 2010, DE CHIMAY waived extradition and was returned to New York on June 29, 2010.

 

District Attorney Vance thanked Assistant District Attorneys Aaron Wolfson and Vimi Bhatia of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, who are handling the case under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Polly Greenberg and Bureau Chief Richard Weber. Trial Preparation Assistants Grant Damon, Eunice Choi and Lee Parnes also assisted.

 

The District Attorney also thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office, for its participation in this joint investigation, specifically, Senior Counsel Michael Osnato, and Assistant Regional Director Alison Conn, who handled the parallel civil action filed against DE CHIMAY. The District Attorney also thanked the Bermuda Monetary Authority.