Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- K1 Group, the German hedge fund firm, is embroiled in an international criminal investigation after saddling banks, including Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BNP Paribas SA, with about $400 million of losses, people with knowledge of the probe said.
European and U.S. authorities are examining whether K1, which manages funds of hedge funds, deceived the banks when borrowing money to ratchet up the size of its investments, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the investigation isnât public. German and U.S. prosecutors may announce the first charges in the case as soon as this week, they said. JPMorgan inherited its exposure to K1 after acquiring Bear Stearns Cos., which did business with the fund manager.
The inquiry focuses on whether K1, founded by German psychologist Helmut Kiener, 50, engaged in circular transactions with a network of investment firms in the U.K., the U.S. and other countries to create the illusion that K1 had more money available to backstop loans from the banks, the people said. The K1 Web site says Kienerâs investment system generated an 825 percent return from 1996 through last June.
U.S. regulators are boosting scrutiny of international investment advisers after money managers Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford were accused of moving funds off-shore to obscure multibillion-dollar frauds. Earlier this month, federal investigators used wiretaps for the first time to crack alleged insider trading by hedge funds, filing charges against billionaire Raj Rajaratnam and five others. Rajaratnam and Stanford have denied wrongdoing. Madoff pleaded guilty.
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