Utah man charged in $30 million fraud scheme
A 57-year-old Utah man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he orchestrated a $30 million hedge fund fraud and then lost most of the money in foreign investments.
Thomas Repke, of Salt Lake City, was released on bond but ordered, once he returns to Utah, to wear an ankle monitor and be confined to his home unless he goes to work. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta say Repke and co-defendant James Jeffrey, 58, of Ontario, defrauded more than 100 investors out of $30 million and then transferred more than $20 million to accounts in Switzerland and Malta. The defendants used an escrow account in Atlanta to carry out the scheme, prosecutors said.
At Monday's hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Anand said most of the money taken in through the scheme was transferred abroad "and essentially has been lost." Anand also said there "is a substantial amount of unaccounted for money in the case."
Repke and Jeffrey, who has yet to turn himself in, carried out the fraud scheme between January 2006 and December 2007 by operating Coadum Capital, according to the federal indictment. Coadum attracted investors by offering shares in hedge funds and advertising monthly returns of approximately 5 percent, the indictment said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to seize most of Repke's assets, his lawyer, federal defender Suzanne Hashimi, told U.S. Magistrate Linda Walker.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
