DA VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF INVESTMENT MANAGER STEVEN CANADY FOR $2 MILLION PONZI SCHEME
“This investment manager is charged with pocketing what he falsely promised were fully refundable fees, using them to fund his lavish lifestyle or pay off earlier victims,” said District Attorney Vance. “We will not allow individuals to profit from would-be investors by weaving webs of deceit. I urge anyone with knowledge of this scam to contact my Office’s Rackets Bureau through our Financial Frauds hotline at (212) 335-8900.”
According to the indictment and statements made on the record in court, from May 2010 through June 2012, CANADY allegedly stole more than $2 million from four companies through his role as investment manager and owner of Alliance Warburg Capital Management: ABA Ventures; West Chester Host, LLC; Lents Construction; and Global Capital Advisors. CANADY is charged with recruiting ABA Ventures, West Chester Host, and Lents Construction, who were seeking funding for their companies and business ventures, by falsely promising to give them their requisite funding after they paid a fully refundable fee, variously described as a due diligence fee or pre-paid interest. Instead, CANADY allegedly spent the fees on personal expenses like dining in restaurants, travel and rent, or to pay off earlier victims in his scheme. None of the victims received any funding or the supposedly fully refundable fee.
CANADY is additionally charged with falsely promising Global Capital Advisors a large return within 30 days if it made an investment of $150,000 in one of the defendant’s business ventures. CANADY allegedly entered into contracts with the victim, falsely guaranteeing the returns, and promised to pay interest on the investment even if CANADY’s venture was not successful. Instead, CANADY allegedly stole these funds and used them to repay a previous victim.
Assistant District Attorneys Bryan Serino and Melissa Fox are prosecuting this case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Ohm, Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau, Jodie Kane, Chief of the Rackets Bureau, and Executive Assistant District Attorney David Szuchman, Chief of the Investigation Division. Supervising Rackets Investigator Donato Siciliano, Senior Rackets Investigator Gregory Dunlavey, Principal Financial Investigator Michael Kelly, and Paralegal Samarah Greene provided assistance with the case.
Defendant Information:
STEVEN CANADY, 1/26/1972
New York, NY
Charges:
- Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, four counts
- Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, a class C felony, four counts
- Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.