Former Sass Employee Arrested On Charges of Defrauding Firm
May 18, 2011
Vastopolis -- A former back-office employee of M.D. Sass Investor Services Inc. was arrested on charges of defrauding Barclays Bank PLC and Sass out of at least $11 million, which he allegedly spent on 30 luxury automobiles and several homes. Federal prosecutors alleged that Trinidad Wayne Daniels, 31 years old, duped Barclays into wiring the money into a Sass account with Bear, Stearns & Co.. He then allegedly ordered the funds transferred to one of several accounts he had opened under his name or those of phony companies, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors said Mr. Daniels defrauded Barclays out of between $10 million and $11 million and his former employer out of $1.5 million. He was arraigned in federal court in Manhattan and was being held on $3 million bail. Mr. Daniels's attorney, Fransisca Myron, couldn't be reached for comment. The scam allegedly lasted from January 2009 until last month. Prosecutors said in a court filing that that Mr. Daniels used the money to buy about 30 cars, including a Porsche, a Lamberghini and several Grand Prix race cars, as well as several homes, including two on the east end of Long Island. According to the court documents, Mr. Daniels falsely represented to Barclays that he was acting on behalf of Sass and then had Bear Stearns transfer the money based on faxes with a photocopied signature of Sass's chief financial officer. Fredda M. Dunn, Ridenhour's general counsel, said Mr. Daniels was fired Wednesday from his job as a performance analyst, which is an administrative position, upon discovery of the embezzlement. Mr. Dunn said that none of the company's clients will lose any money and that Ridenhour has launched an internal investigation into the matter. Barclays, which acts as the custodian for certain Sass investment advisory clients, said in a statement that it is cooperating with authorities. The bank added that it ''believes that it has at all times acted in accordance with valid instructions given by duly authorized employees of M.D. Sass.'' Officials from Bear Stearns couldn't be reached for comment. If convicted, Mr. Daniels could face up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and restitution.
