Paul Greenwood (born 1947) is a former American money manager and

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who was convicted of

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...

with business partner Stephen Walsh.

Business career

Greenwood and Walsh established their first company in 1979Elizabeth Ganga
Paul Greenwood sentenced to 10 years for massive fraud
''The Journal News'' (December 3, 2014). and became partners and executives at the

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

-based WG Trading Company.Nate Raymond
Ex-NY Islanders co-owner gets prison term for fraud halved
Reuters (June 29, 2016). From 1992 to 1996, Greenwood and Walsh had a controlling stake in the New York Islanders franchise of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

.Larry Neumister
Judge gives ex-Islanders co-owner a 5-year prison reduction
Associated Press (June 29, 2016). Prior to his arrest, Greenwood was the town supervisor of North Salem, New York and a treasurer at the local Episcopal Church. He resigned as town supervisor shortly after his arrest. He had a reputation for generosity in the community.

Securities fraud case

Greenwood and Walsh were arrested on February 24, 2009, and charged with scheming to defraud investors of $554 million.Patricia Hurtado
Fund Manager Paul Greenwood Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Bloomberg News (July 28, 2010). The scheme, which lasted from 1996 to 2009, defrauded investors, including the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, Carnegie Mellon University,

Wells Fargo Bank Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United St ...

, the Sacramento County Employees Retirement System, and the Kern County Employees Retirement Fund. The scheme involved unauthorized investments and the reporting of "arbitrary return rates" to investors that failed to account for losses. The scheme collapsed following the

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and a

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audit that revealed promissory notes used by Greenwood and Walsh to account for losses and withdrawals. On July 28, 2010, Greenwood pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud. On December 3, 2014 he was sentenced to a decade in federal prison by Manhattan U.S. District Judge

Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum (September 16, 1929 – February 5, 2016) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education Born into a Jewish family, Cedarbaum grew up in the Crow ...

, who told him "many people today lost many thousands of dollars as a result of your fraud." The sentence was later overturned by the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

, which found that Judge Cedarbaum erred in basing the sentence in part on the finding that some victims suffered severe financial harmed, and returned the case to the district court for re-sentencing. At the re-sentencing hearing, Judge Loretta A. Preska, who took over the case after Cedarbaum's death, reduced Greenwood's sentence by five years, citing his long history of charity and significant cooperation with a court-appointed receiver and federal prosecutors (who secured a guilty plea and prison sentence against Walsh); Preska also considered the fact that 98% or 99% of investors had recovered their money. Greenwood expressed remorse for the crime. Greenwood was imprisoned at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, and released in July 2019.Paul Greenwood, Register Number: 61989-054
Federal Bureau of Prisons.

References

External links

* ttp://www.sfgate.com/columns/bottomline/ Andrew S. Ross, "Another Pension Fund Hit", ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (March 4, 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Paul 1947 births Living people American people convicted of fraud American money managers American white-collar criminals