NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York hedge fund founder pleaded guilty Wednesday to bankruptcy fraud for pressuring a rival not to bid on the assets of Neiman Marcus’ creditors so he could buy them at a lower price, he said. say the U.S. Department of Justice.
Daniel Kamensky, 48, of Roslyn, New York, filed his lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan.
Kamensky had been a director of Marble Ridge Capital LP, a specialist in “distressed” investments that once had assets under management of $ 1.2 billion.
Kamensky’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Citing a grievance agreement, a Kamensky spokesman said the defendant could face 12 to 18 months in prison according to federal guidelines recommended in his May 7 sentence.
Prosecutors said Kamensky threatened last summer to exploit his role as co-chair of a Neiman creditors committee to prevent an investment bank from bidding 30 cents a share on securities it wanted to buy for 20 cents a share. .
Kamensky also threatened to stop doing business with the bank unless he withdrew and, after doing so, asked an employee to lie about what had happened, prosecutors said.
“You see … I can go to jail,” Kamensky told prosecutors Kamensky told the employee. “This goes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement, “In fact, his fraud has reached the U.S. prosecutor’s office and has now been revealed in an open court.”
Founded in Dallas in 1907, Neiman sought the protection of Chapter 11 last May. The luxury retailer emerged four months later under new owners, including investment firms Pimco, Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Sixth Street Partners LLC.
A federal bankruptcy judge approved an agreement in December on Neiman’s claims against Kamensky.
Kamensky had been a partner in hedge fund firm Paulson & Co before founding Marble Ridge in 2015.
Marble Ridge announced it would liquidate last August, after Kamensky’s conduct came under control.
Report by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reports by Maria Chutchian and Nate Raymond; Edited by Bill Berkrot and Aurora Ellis