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An alleged Ponzi scheme run by a Harvard MBA who solicited money from fellow alumni of the prestigious US business school has been shut down by a New York court after collecting more than $2.9mn.
New York attorney-general Letitia James said Thursday her office had secured the court order to freeze funds controlled by Vladimir Artamonov, after being alerted of the suicide of one of his clients who lost $100,000.
The case highlights how even people who have studied for advanced business can be vulnerable to financial frauds and to the use of marketing techniques that prey on alumni networks.
James said Artamonov had collected money from at least 29 people, many of whom he met through his connections with Harvard Business School. “Even sophisticated investors can be conned by fraudsters, especially when personal relationships and networks are used to build a false sense of trust,” she said.
“Vladimir Artamonov used his alumnus status from Harvard Business School to prey on his classmates and others while seeming legitimate and dependable. Instead, he has been scamming people out of their investments, with horrific consequences. Today, we have put a stop to this scheme and encourage anyone who has been defrauded to come forward to my office.”
Artamonov graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 2003, and from 2021 sought investors for his Project Information Arbitrage fund, which projected returns of up to 1,000 times by claiming to be able to identify investments Berkshire Hathaway would make ahead of the market from public state insurance filings.
The attorney-general said that he instead bought unrelated short-term options that rapidly lost money, and raised new funds to reimburse previous investors seeking money back while spending some of the funds on unauthorised holidays, shopping and dining.
James obtained a preliminary injunction restraining Artamonov from “providing financial services, engaging in fraudulent conduct, and withdrawing and transferring funds from his bank accounts” as well as demanding he produce records for its investigations. She invited other investors to come forward and file complaints.
A spokesman for Harvard Business School said: “We just learned about this today. No further comment.”
Artamonov did not reply to requests to comment. His LinkedIn profile shows he also studied as an undergraduate at Wharton Business School. He worked as an investment analyst at Greenlight Capital in New York until 2008.
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