A graduate of Harvard Business College was arrested on Thursday on charges of fraud, claiming that he had deceived the prestigious school graduates from more than $ 4 million in the Bonzi scheme, until one investor guaranteed that they are “proud” soon about their “crazy gains” in the school.
Vladimir Artamonov, 46, was detained in Elkridge, Maryland, where he lived, and was charged with defrauding securities, wires and investment, claiming that the plan from September 2021 to February 2024.
An unspecified indictment in the Manhattan Federal Court said that Artamonov promised great returns and a little disappointment of former classmates and other graduates to invest with him, and told one of the investors: “It will be your best investment. The insight is narrow air.”
The comment messages with Harvard and Artamonov’s lawyer have not been returned immediately. Artamonov, which appears before the Magistrate Judge of Maryland, was released, on bail of $ 300,000 with instructions for not contacting victims or potential trial witnesses.
The allegations filed against Artamonov were first revealed in late February 2024 by the New York Prosecutor Littia James, who said in a press statement at the time that her office learned about fraud after one of the dozens of investors ended his private life after he learned that he lost $ 100,000.
James said: “Advanced investors can associate with the scammers, especially when using personal relationships and networks to build a false sense of confidence,” James said.
She said Artamonov “used his graduate status from Harvard Business School to prey to his classmates and others while seemed to be legitimate and reliable.”
The authorities said that Artamonov, a Harvard graduate in 2003 with a Master of Business Administration, used the school graduates network to identify investors.
The indictment said that he promised investors that he could define securities on the verge of achieving great gains by discovering the public insurance company’s files through its subsidiaries. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Before public deposits submitted to the Securities and Stock Exchange Committee that investors follow more closely.
Instead of following this plan, Artamonov put the investor money in short -term options, lost millions of dollars, and often within days of receiving money from investors, the indictment said.
He said he had repeatedly confirmed to investors that the big profits were on the horizon, and even promised even one of the investors that “almost certainly we will earn a lot of money” soon and that they “boast” about their “crazy gains” in the Harvard Business College.
The indictment said that the investors eventually demanded their money, causing Artamonov to return less than $ 400,000 by paying the original investors with funds from new investors or by refusing to compensate them at all.
She said that Artamonov lost most of the money or spent tens of thousands of dollars on things such as housing, food, alcohol and transportation.
Christopher J. said. Raya, head of the New York FBI office, in a press statement that Artamonov “took advantage of the status of a university and an investment company with great respect for illegal investments, which he used to pay for personal expenses.”
American lawyer Jay Clayton said that Artamonov “betrayed investors, including friends and former Evy league colleagues.”
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