Investment Chief Gets 12 Years for Running $100 Million Scam (1)

The chief investment officer of a New York firm specializing in trade finance was ordered to spend 12 years in prison for defrauding clients of more than $100 million.

David Hu, one of the founders of International Investment Group, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan. Hu and his partner, Martin Silver, both pleaded guilty last year to running a Ponzi-like scheme targeting investors in IIG funds.

Hellerstein said a 12-year sentence was lengthy enough to deter others who might engage in similar fraud. “These kind of crimes are their own set …