Kenneth Marsh, the president and owner of Gryphon Holdings Inc., and four Gryphon employees were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud

Earlier today, Kenneth Marsh, the president and owner of Gryphon Holdings Inc., a purported financial advisory firm located in Staten Island, and four Gryphon employees, Baldwin Anderson, Robert Anthony Budion, Jeanne Lada, and James T. Levier, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.1 The defendants’ initial appearances are scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Marilyn D. Go at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.

The charges and arrests were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector-in-Charge, New York Division, United States Postal Inspection Service.

According to the complaint, since approximately January 2007, the defendants and others defrauded victims of more than $17.5 million for fees and investment advisory services. Gryphon victims, many of whom were elderly retirees, typically received unsolicited emails and telephone calls touting the firm’s services and directing them to its website. These communications and the website allegedly contained multiple misrepresentations concerning Gryphon’s employees, services, customers, history, and even the location of its office, including:

• Traders “Michael Warren” and “Kenneth Maseka,” graduates of Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, and Wharton and alumni of Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, headed the firm, its billion dollar hedge funds, and its legendary trading desk. In fact, “Warren” and “Maseka” are fictional, and the firm has no hedge funds or trading desk.

• [Global financier and philanthropist] George Soros stated that, “Alone the traders of Gryphon Financial are incredible, together the[y] are unstoppable.” Mr. Soros did not make this statement.

• Gryphon operates from offices on Wall Street, London and Sydney. In fact, it is run from a strip-mall on Staten Island.

As alleged in the complaint, once the victims provided contact information, the defendants called and, employing additional misrepresentations and high pressure sales tactics, sold increasingly more expensive versions of Gryphon’s services. Despite Gryphon’s public representations that it was only a publisher of financial newsletters, during the sales calls the victims were fraudulently offered personalized advisory services, including investment recommendations, portfolio analysis, and money management.

“Fair capital markets depend on the protection of the small investor, and we will vigorously investigate and prosecute operators of fraudulent investment advisory schemes that seek to prey on their clients,” stated United States Attorney Campbell. Mr. Campbell expressed his grateful appreciation to the United States Secret Service and the Securities & Exchange Commission for their assistance in the investigation.

Postal Inspector-in-Charge Verrochio stated, “Postal Inspectors will pursue those who would prey on Americans by defrauding them of their hard earned income with phony investment schemes.”

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger Burlingame.

The Defendants:



KENNETH MARSH
Age: 43



BALDWIN ANDERSON
Age: 55



ROBERT ANTHONY BUDION
Age: 28



JEANNE LADA
Age: 44



JAMES T. LEVIER
Age: 34



_____________________________

1 The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Comments

  1. Finally--- hopefully Justice will prevail !!!

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  2. Great article !!!!!!!! Hope Justice prevails and all get they they deserve......

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  3. I have been one of the people defrauded by Gryphon Financial, luckyly for only $1100.00 whereas others were out $250 K or more. My supposed contact was Richard Lanza, which was an alias for one of the defendants in the SEC complaint. I am not sure how to get in line for a share of the seized / frozen funds.

    PapaDrain

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  4. Unfortunately for me, I lost just under $400,000 dealing directly with "Michael Warren"...

    If any evidence is required (I have all records, trade by trade) I will be delighted to help, so that justice can be served...

    Please leave an e-mail address on line and I will respond...

    I'd rather keep my identity private for the time being...

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  5. I was dealing with Robert Anthony, I upgraded my account with them three times and was out $20K with all of there guarantees. Bunch of sharks working there, may justice prevail!
    DC

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  6. Finally, these lying weasels have been stopped.

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  7. I too was "bilked" for over $300,000 in fees and losses in trades. I just got my affidavit letter from the DOJ to learn of their arrests. What a bitter-sweet piece of news. I look back and wonder how could they have done this to me and others? It was a total group conspiracy; promises from RA then passed off to JG then MS then PR all promising to fix what the other guy did not deliver. "You’re in this far I will credit what you have paid toward the higher priced offering".."this will hit and make you whole" then that guy was "no longer with us".
    They also made claims that they” paid millions for reliable inside information on M&A's"!!! Some, (very few) actually did what they were saying. When I confronted them about a losing recommendation their response was " I will make it up to you, come in to this $25k svc for $5 today, I will credit you for $10k and as our next recommendation hits for you, pay us $5k, as the bal paid in full...this was one viscous cycle of conspired lies including the dingbat office girls telling me they were making money from these guys helping them.
    I hope they get the maximum jail time enjoying sexual services they provide to fellow inmates. May they rot in hell!!!

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  8. dose anyone know how much time each of these s-bags got ?

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  9. The sentencing & KM trial has been moved back to 4/15. The OAG's office web page says a maximum of 20 years. Wee need need more people to step up an exppose the magnitude of their crime.

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  10. hey anonymous its your fault for sending the scumbag $. I used to work w/ the piece of chit.I figured out he was a dirtbag quickly even though we went to the same High school & he tried to use that to manipulate me.WAKE UP, your the dope that sent that black hearted bastard 300K.

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  11. ken marsh has pled "GUILTY" is awaiting sentence.. wife should also be given jail--she was aware>> they worked together in florida .. HOO_RAY

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  12. Jail Term should be 50 years for each. What a lousy way to make money. Can you imagine the lifetime savings of some retired folks that NOW have nothing to fall back on....

    There should be no tolerance for such fools.

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  13. Sentence to be given SEPT 14---all pled guilty------hope wifey gets time although she is a Struttin" a new man.,,soooooooooooo she might go free!! we will see !!

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