The origins of the company date to the early 1980s, when Alberto Vilar and Gary A. Tanaka founded two companies named "Amerindo" in England and Panama.[1] The American branch, called "Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc." was founded in 1985.[1]
Vilar made an early and very successful investment in Yahoo!, which once totaled 40% of the fund's investment portfolio.[4] Vilar's financial strategy included investing in purchasing shares of companies shortly after their initial public offering.[4]
The company's "flagship" financial product, the "Amerindo Technology Fund," was known for investing in startuphigh tech and Dot-com companies.[5] Following many years of strong growth during the internet boom the fund came to a crash.[5]
Vilar gained a lot of press for declaring the internet to be "bigger than the Industrial Revolution."[5]
Fraudulent activities
Amerindo had advertised that its "Guaranteed Fixed Rate Deposit Account" (GFRDA) would be invested in "high quality, short-term deposits" that would produce a "fixed-rate of interest for a fixed-term."[6] Instead, these funds were invested in risky dot com ventures, and the fund lost large sums after the 2000 dot-com bust, which meant that Amerindo couldn't repay the investors, costing investors millions of dollars.[6]
Separately, Amerindo investor Lily Cates, mother of actress Phoebe Cates, invested $5 million in the "Amerindo Small Business Investment Company" venture, but most of her investment was rerouted to pay for Amerindo's business expenses, donated to various charities to which Vilar had made pledges that he couldn't afford, and to pay a settlement from a former client who was suing Amerindo about the GFRDA account.[6] In September 2003, Vilar ordered an employee to copy Cates' signature onto a document that purported to authorize a $250,000 transfer, with most of that money going into Vilar's personal account.[6] In 2005, Cates filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding Vilar and Amerindo.[6] During the investigation, Vilar lied to the SEC, claiming that Cates wasn't a client and that he did not own the Panamanian subsidiary.[6]
In 2005, Vilar and Tanaka were convicted for organizing a series of transactions that defrauded their clients.[6] After the nine-week trial, Vilar was convicted of two counts of securities fraud; two counts of wire fraud; four counts of money laundering; investment adviser fraud; mail fraud; making false statements; and participating in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud, investment adviser fraud; wire fraud, mail fraud; and money laundering and Tanaka was convicted of three of the twelve counts with which he was charged: securities fraud; investment adviser fraud; and conspiring to commit securities fraud; investment adviser fraud; wire fraud; mail fraud; and money laundering.[6]
References
^ ab. Amerindo Investment Advisors, Inc. Archived from the original on 2001-01-11.
^. Amerindo Investment Advisors, Inc. Archived from the original on 2002-04-02.
^"SEC CHARGES AMERINDO INVESTMENT ADVISORS AND ITS CO-FOUNDERS AND PRINCIPALS, ALBERTO W. VILAR AND GARY A. TANAKA, WITH FRAUD AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF CLIENT FUNDS". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. June 2, 2005.
^ abNon, Sergio G. (July 26, 2000). "B2B still the place to be for Amerindo". CNET News.
^ abc"Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. Company Profile". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
amerindo, investment, advisors, investment, services, firm, best, known, making, large, profits, during, boom, 1990s, 2000s, amerindo, logo, 1997industryinvestment, servicesheadquarters399, park, avenue, 22nd, floor, york, city, yorkone, embarcadero, center, s. Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc was an Investment services firm best known for making large profits during the Dot com boom of the 1990s and 2000s Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc Amerindo s logo c 1997IndustryInvestment servicesHeadquarters399 Park Avenue 22nd Floor New York City New YorkOne Embarcadero Center Suite 2300 San Francisco California43 Upper Grosvenor Street London EnglandKey peopleAlberto VilarGary TanakaThe origins of the company date to the early 1980s when Alberto Vilar and Gary A Tanaka founded two companies named Amerindo in England and Panama 1 The American branch called Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc was founded in 1985 1 The East Coast office was located in the 399 Park Avenue in New York City the West Coast office and principal place of business was located at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco and the international office was in London 2 3 Vilar made an early and very successful investment in Yahoo which once totaled 40 of the fund s investment portfolio 4 Vilar s financial strategy included investing in purchasing shares of companies shortly after their initial public offering 4 The company s flagship financial product the Amerindo Technology Fund was known for investing in startup high tech and Dot com companies 5 Following many years of strong growth during the internet boom the fund came to a crash 5 Vilar gained a lot of press for declaring the internet to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution 5 Fraudulent activities EditAmerindo had advertised that its Guaranteed Fixed Rate Deposit Account GFRDA would be invested in high quality short term deposits that would produce a fixed rate of interest for a fixed term 6 Instead these funds were invested in risky dot com ventures and the fund lost large sums after the 2000 dot com bust which meant that Amerindo couldn t repay the investors costing investors millions of dollars 6 Separately Amerindo investor Lily Cates mother of actress Phoebe Cates invested 5 million in the Amerindo Small Business Investment Company venture but most of her investment was rerouted to pay for Amerindo s business expenses donated to various charities to which Vilar had made pledges that he couldn t afford and to pay a settlement from a former client who was suing Amerindo about the GFRDA account 6 In September 2003 Vilar ordered an employee to copy Cates signature onto a document that purported to authorize a 250 000 transfer with most of that money going into Vilar s personal account 6 In 2005 Cates filed a complaint with the U S Securities and Exchange Commission regarding Vilar and Amerindo 6 During the investigation Vilar lied to the SEC claiming that Cates wasn t a client and that he did not own the Panamanian subsidiary 6 In 2005 Vilar and Tanaka were convicted for organizing a series of transactions that defrauded their clients 6 After the nine week trial Vilar was convicted of two counts of securities fraud two counts of wire fraud four counts of money laundering investment adviser fraud mail fraud making false statements and participating in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud investment adviser fraud wire fraud mail fraud and money laundering and Tanaka was convicted of three of the twelve counts with which he was charged securities fraud investment adviser fraud and conspiring to commit securities fraud investment adviser fraud wire fraud mail fraud and money laundering 6 References Edit a b Why Amerindo Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc Archived from the original on 2001 01 11 Contact Information Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc Archived from the original on 2002 04 02 SEC CHARGES AMERINDO INVESTMENT ADVISORS AND ITS CO FOUNDERS AND PRINCIPALS ALBERTO W VILAR AND GARY A TANAKA WITH FRAUD AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF CLIENT FUNDS U S Securities and Exchange Commission June 2 2005 a b Non Sergio G July 26 2000 B2B still the place to be for Amerindo CNET News a b c Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc Company Profile Yahoo Finance Retrieved 2010 07 25 a b c d e f g h Former Owners of Amerindo Found Guilty of Multi million Dollar Fraud PDF United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York November 19 2008 Archived from the original PDF on June 13 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Amerindo Investment Advisors amp oldid 1085796963, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
