DA VANCE: NAVAL ACADEMY GRADUATE INDICTED FOR $1 MILLION PONZI SCHEME
This week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the indictment of BRYAN CAISSE, 50, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, for conducting a Ponzi scheme, and thereby defrauding his friends and former classmates in the Naval Academy out of more than $1 million. CAISSE fled the United States after a search warrant was executed on his apartment on October 8, 2013. He was arrested at an airport in Bogotá, Colombia on January 18, 2014, and returned to the United States. The indictment charges CAISSE with four counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, six counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.[1]
“At the heart of every Ponzi scheme is greed and a betrayal of trust,” said District Attorney Vance. “This defendant is accused of preying upon those who trusted him. Investors need to be very careful about who they give their money to. And Ponzi schemers should be very careful about operating these scams within the jurisdiction of my Office.”
According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, beginning in April 2008, CAISSE told individuals that he was raising money to start a new company, Huxley Capital Management. CAISSE received more than $1 million from his victims. But rather than investing the money in his company, CAISSE spent the money on personal expenses, including rental payments, car services, personal debts, credit cards, cash withdrawals, and restaurants.
According to court documents, as his victims began seeking repayment, CAISSE became evasive and difficult to reach. He set up email accounts in the names of fictitious assistants to make it appear that repayment was coming, and that he had been seriously injured in a car accident. Despite what he told his victims, according to the charges, his alleged injuries did not curtail his lifestyle, or stop him from running up credit card debt on high-end restaurants, travel, car services, and other personal expenses. While CAISSE did return money – usually a fraction of what they were owed – to some of his victims, he obtained this money from other victims.
Assistant District Attorney Sean Pippen is handling the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy, Principal Deputy Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau; Polly Greenberg, Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau; and Executive Assistant District Attorney David M. Szuchman, Chief of the Investigation Division. Senior Rackets Investigator Matthew Winters assisted with the investigation, under the supervision of Supervising Rackets Investigator Donato Siciliano and Chief Investigator Walter Alexander. Trial Preparation Assistant Kimberly Park assisted with the investigation.
District Attorney Vance thanked the staff at the New York Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance in the investigation, as well as Special Agent Antonio Zamudio of the U. S. State Department for his assistance with effecting the defendant’s return to the United States.
[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Defendant Information:
BRYAN CAISSE, D.O.B. 3/1/1964
New York, N.Y.
Charges:
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 4 counts
• Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony, 6 counts
• Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, 1 count