Archegos founder Bill Hwang, CFO Patrick Halligan hit with securities fraud charges
- Hwang, 57, and Halligan, 45, were charged with 11 criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, market manipulation, wire fraud and securities fraud
- Archegos, Hwang’s family office, imploded after amassing a concentrated portfolio of stocks by using borrowed money
Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang and chief financial officer Patrick Halligan were arrested and charged with fraud in the latest fallout from the spectacular collapse of the family office.
Federal prosecutors said Hwang used Archegos as an “instrument of market manipulation and fraud”, inflating its portfolio from US$1.5 billion to US$35 billion before it imploded and caused massive losses for banks, financial market investors and its own employees.
Hwang, 57, and Halligan, 45, were arrested early on Wednesday and are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court later in the day.
The two men were charged with 11 criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, market manipulation, wire fraud and securities fraud, according to a statement from Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed related civil complaints as well.
“Bill Hwang is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing,” his lawyer Lawrence Lustberg said in a statement. “There is no evidence whatsoever that he committed any kind of crime, let alone the overblown allegations that pervade this indictment.” Lustberg said Hwang had been cooperative with investigations into Archegos.
