NEW YORK, NY – James Velissaris, founder and former chief investment officer of New York-based investment adviser Infinity Q Capital Management, has been sentenced today to 15 years in prison for participating in a scheme to defraud the firm’s investors.
The company managed a mutual fund and a hedge fund that reportedly held approximately $3 billion in assets. U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote imposed the sentence.
Velissaris manipulated the valuation of Infinity Q’s positions in ways that did not correspond to the terms of the underlying contracts and were inconsistent with fair value, ultimately causing significant losses for investors.
To hide his scheme, Velissaris lied to investors, auditors, and the SEC. In addition to his prison term, Velissaris, 38, from Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and agreed to pay approximately $22 million in forfeiture.