Andrew Caspersen, whose father, Finn M.W. Caspersen — a wealthy New Jersey financier who took his own life in 2009 amid a tax fraud investigation — was charged Monday with defrauding investors out of millions that he lost in aggressive trading on his own personal account.
NEW YORK -- Andrew Caspersen, son of the late New Jersey financier and philanthropist Finn M.W. Caspersen, was arrested Monday on charges of defrauding investors of more than $95 million.
Caspersen, a partner at Park Hill Group in New York City, was accused of soliciting funds he claimed would be invested in a secured loan to an investment firm.
Federal prosecutors said he took at least $24.6 million from a charitable foundation and used the money to trade securities in his personal brokerage account. He lost most of the money through aggressive options trading, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan.
PJT Partners, the firm that owns Park Hill, said it was "stunned and outraged" at the charges, and announced Caspersen had been terminated.
Caspersen, who graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, lives in New York but has deep ties to New Jersey.
Caspersen was the scion of a wealthy and powerful family. His father, the former chairman and chief executive of Beneficial Corp., gave away tens of millions of dollars to charities and had been a top Republican fundraiser.
Finn Caspersen committed suicide in 2009 amid reports that he was struggling with cancer and under investigation for tax evasion.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the charges against Andrew Caspersen involved tens of millions in sham private equity investments.
"To advance his $95 million fraud scheme, Caspersen allegedly put on a shameful charade--creating fake email addresses, setting up misleading domain names, and inventing fictional financiers," he said. "When confronted by a suspicious client who had invested $25 million, Caspersen had no good answers."
The charges apparently came to light after PJT Partners itself launched an internal investigation led by outside counsel, which the firm said was very quickly brought to the attention of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
"Since that time we have cooperated fully with law enforcement, and we will continue to do so," PJT Partners said in a statement.
An attorney for Caspersen could not be reached for comment. If found guilty, Casperson, who was charged with one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud, faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of $5 million.
Complaint against Andrew Caspersen
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.