A barred Philadelphia broker and former investment fund manager has been sentenced to nine years in prison for duping at least 40 investors out of $105 million in a securities fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Brenda Smith, 61, pleaded guilty in September by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to seven counts of securities fraud. She was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newark to 109 months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Smith also was given three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $47.2 million.
Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Philadelphia Regional Office previously filed a civil complaint against Smith based on the same conduct.
Smith, according to court documents, managed and controlled Broad Reach Capital LP, a pooled investment fund/hedge fund that was established in February 2016 and was open to accredited investors with a minimum investment of $1 million.
From February 2016 through August 2019, Smith, Broad Reach Capital and two other entities Smith controlled raised about $105 million from investors, misrepresenting that the fund “employed several profitable, sophisticated trading strategies involving highly liquid…
