Former Ceo Of Paramount Management Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To Seven Years In Prison

              Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ALEX V. EKDESHMAN, the Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Management, LLC, was sentenced yesterday to eighty-seven months in prison for his role in a commodities fraud scheme.  EKDESHMAN ran a fraudulent scheme in which he solicited over $1.5 million from over 100 investors for the purpose of investing in foreign exchange currency transactions and then misappropriated the majority of investors’ funds to pay for personal and business expenses.  EKDESHMAN was originally charged in May 2014, and he was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Vernon S. Broderick, United States District Judge.

            According to the Information, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made during court proceedings:

            From at least May 2011 through May 2013, EKDESHMAN ran a fraudulent commodities trading scheme.  EKDESHMAN, who was chief executive officer of Paramount Management, LLC (“Paramount Management”), located in New York, New York, represented to investors that Paramount Management was in the business of investing in foreign exchange currency transactions, or “forex.”  Through various employees of Paramount Management, EKDESHMAN solicited investor funds on the understanding that the funds would be solely invested in forex.  As a result of these solicitations, EKDESHMAN and his employees collected at least $1.38 million from approximately 115 investors.

            Contrary to EKDESHMAN’s promise to invest the investors’ funds in forex, EKDESHMAN misappropriated the large majority of investor funds.  More than $1 million in investor funds were never traded in forex.  Instead, EKDESHMAN used those funds to make payments to himself and his family members, to buy personal items, to pay for business expenses related to Paramount Management, and to pay employees of Paramount Management.          

            EKDESHMAN, 42, of Holmdel, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of commodities fraud on February 5, 2015.

            Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and thanked the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its assistance.

            The charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.  The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.  Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.  Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants.  For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.     

            This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica A. Masella is in charge of the prosecution.