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Jesse Bogdonoff (born April 1, 1955) is a former Bank of America financial advisor to the
government of Tonga The politics of Tonga take place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the King is the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Tonga's Prime Minister is currently appointed by the King from among the members ...
and
court jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
of
Taufa'ahau Tupou IV George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of '' George'', after King George III of the ...
, the
king of Tonga This is a list of monarchs of Tonga since 1845, after the Constitution of Tonga established the role of the monarch. The first monarch of Tonga was George Tupou I. 2008 cession of powers Three days before his coronation on 1 August 2008, t ...
. He was embroiled in a financial scandal.


Scandal

Bogdonoff made headlines in 2001 and 2002 after being accused of mismanaging millions of dollars from the nation of
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
. He had been the Tongan government's financial advisor since 1994, claiming to have made the government millions in the rising stock markets of the booming 1990s. Bogdonoff managed the Tonga Trust Fund after it had been funded by the Tongan government in 1986 in a scheme in which the Tongan government sold passports to frightened Hong Kong nationals who were unnerved by the 1997 expiration of the British lease on Hong Kong from China. In 1999 Bogdonoff recommended moving the Tongan portfolio out of the bulging
stock market bubble A stock market bubble is a type of economic bubble taking place in stock markets when market participants drive stock prices above their value in relation to some system of stock valuation. Behavioral finance theory attributes stock market bubb ...
and into a pool of insurance backed investments called viatical contracts managed by the Millennium Asset Management Company. In 2001 he learned that Herchell Hyatt, the owner of Millennium Asset Management Company, had stolen millions of Tonga's money and filed false accounting statements for the Tonga account. Bogdonoff arranged a recovery program for Tonga backed by
Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...
to protect against the losses. The Tongan government became paralyzed in an internal political debate led by the Tongan democracy movement in its effort to gain ground by embarrassing the royal family, which dismissed the only senior government ministers who were attempting to implement the recovery plan to save the Tonga Trust Fund. Without the recovery plan the Tonga Trust Fund was effectively wiped out. The government proceeded to sue Bogdonoff and all the parties involved in the transaction for fraud and negligence. Without admitting guilt of any fraud, Bogdonoff settled his part of the lawsuit in 2004.


Post-scandal life

As of 2006, Bogdonoff has not been to Tonga since 2004 due to his history there. He was not present during King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV's funeral in September 2006. Bogdonoff claimed he was concerned for his safety due to the large number of Tongan citizens who have settled in the United States. He now offers classes in hypnosis and is a clinical therapist using hypnosis to aid in recovery from post traumatic stress. As of 2006, now called Jesse Dean, he is the founder and sole practitioner of the Open Window Institute of Emotional Freedom in
Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...
.


Jester

Bogdonoff's status as official court jester of Tupou's court made sensational news when the financial scandal hit the media in 2001. Tonga was the first royal court to appoint a court jester in modern times, being appointed in 1999. However, the royal decree was issued on Bogdanoff’s birthday, April 1st, so it is not clear if the appointment was made in full seriousness.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogdonoff, Jesse 1955 births American expatriates in Tonga Economic history of Tonga Jesters Living people