(Bloomberg) -- Platinum Partners LP co-founder Mark Nordlicht, who was found guilty of fraud in New York federal court, was sentenced to six months of home confinement by a judge who has consistently expressed skepticism about the government’s case.
US District Judge Brian M. Cogan, who previously overturned Nordlicht’s conviction in 2019 only to have it reinstated by an appeals court, sentenced him on Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, to two years probation. When delivering the sentence, the judge noted that Nordlicht had “lunged” at a female federal prosecutor during his trial.
Nordlicht and Platinum’s Co-Chief Investment Officer David Levy were convicted by a jury of engaging in a scheme to divert the proceeds from the sale of assets held by Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC, one of the largest companies in Platinum’s portfolio, and defrauding bondholders by funneling $70 million to Platinum.
Both men were found guilty of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and wire fraud conspiracy related to Black Elk. But they were acquitted of five charges tied to their operation of Platinum hedge funds, which eventually collapsed.
Cogan voided the verdicts, saying the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Levy acted with criminal intent and said the evidence at the trial showed Nordlicht showed he made good-faith efforts to comply with laws and regulations, which prosecutors failed to disprove.
But in 2021, a federal appeals court reinstated the convictions, ruling the Cogan abused his discretion. The two men appealed to the US Supreme Court, but the justices refused to hear their case. A third Platinum fund manager, Daniel Small, was convicted at a separate trial in 2022.
The case is US v. Nordlicht, 16-Cr-640, US District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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