Bahamas fund received $198 m of ‘illicit profits’, claims US regulator

A Bahamas-domiciled investment fund received “illicit profits” of approximately $198 million from illegal “late trading and deceptive market timing” practices, according to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Headstart Fund Ltd., which was incorporated in the Bahamas in December, 2001 and, at its height, had at least $500 million of assets under management, according to the SEC, was named as a relief defendant in a complaint alleging securities fraud that was filed by the SEC at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 10, 2008. The defendants are Headstart Advisers Limited, formerly known as Folkes Asset Management Limited, incorporated in England and Wales, and Najy N. Nasser, 41, a French national residing in Monte Carlo, Monaco and a director of HAL.