Belleville man charged in alleged U.S. hedge fund scam

TORONTO - A 58-year-old Belleville, Ont., man is facing charges in an alleged $30 million fraud in the U.S.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Atlanta says an indictment alleges about 100 investors lost approximately $30 million with Coadum Capital.

James Jeffery and co-accused Thomas Repke, 57, of Salt Lake City, Utah, are charged with 22 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.

U.S. attorney Sally Quillian Yates says Jeffery and Repke operated Coadum Capital, which offered shares in hedge funds, in 2006 and 2007.

Yates alleges Repke and Jeffery transferred more than $20 million overseas to accounts in Switzerland and Malta.

Yates says that by the end of 2007 only a fraction of the transferred funds remained deposited in the European accounts.

"This indictment alleges a major international investment fraud scheme that defrauded over 100 victims around the country out of tens of millions of dollars," Yates said.

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  Footprints in the snow led officers to a man attempting to break into several businesses in the Commercial Street area.