$14M Ponzi Scam Collapses, SEC Says

LOS ANGELES (CN) – A Chula Vista man and his two companies ran a $14 million hedge fund Ponzi scheme, the SEC says. It sued Moises Pacheco, Advanced Money Management and Business Development & Consulting in Federal Court.     Pacheco, 41, bilked more than 200 investors by acting as investment adviser to five self-described hedge funds: AP Premium Value I through IV and Capital Partnership Group, according to the complaint.     Pacheco promised annual returns of 30 to 48 percent from buying and selling covered call options, the SEC said. But it was a classic Ponzi scheme in which Pacheco used principle to pay returns until the scheme collapsed: the hedge funds made about $365,000 but Pacheco paid investors “returns” of more than $9 million, the SEC said.     Neither Pacheco nor his entities were registered with the SEC.