Sarasota RE Fund Manager Disappears

Millions Vanish, SEC Investigation, Suicide Note...

It doesn't rise to the level of Madoff Madness, but Sarasota hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel still took his investors for quite a ride. 76-year-old Nadel told investors that total assets in his six hedge funds exceeded $340 million. The SEC investigation launched earlier this week reports those assets were actually less than $1 million. The Herald-Tribune interviews Florida retirees like Philip Stull of Vero Beach and Hamilton Hagar of Port Orange who each lost over $1 million in Nadel's funds. One of the six hedge funds named as a defendant was Scoop Real Estate L.P. According to the American Bar Association Journal, "When Nadel sought investors in 2004 for one of his investment companies, Scoop Real Estate L. P., he did not disclose (his 1982 New York) disbarment in a private placement memorandum. The memorandum lists Holland & Knight as Scoop Real Estate’s general counsel. A law firm representative told the St. Petersburg Times, 'We are reviewing our records and have no comment at this time.'"