Emergency Hearing Scheduled for Alberto Vilar

It appears that Amerindo Investment Advisors founder Alberto Vilar may have violated the terms of his recent bail agreement, which was reached after the onetime mutual fund superstar spent three weeks in jail on fraud charges, according to a July 3 report from the New York Post.

Vilar is accused of stealing $5 million from a client, Lily Cates, the mother of actress Phoebe Cates. The elder Cates' money was intended for a new investment initiative separate from Vilar's formerly high-flying Amerindo Technology fund. But U.S. attorneys allege that Vilar instead used the money to fulfill charitable pledges and other personal expenses. Vilar's partner, Gary Tanaka, was also arrested and is free on bail.

While Tanaka made bail shortly after his arrest, Vilar struggled for three weeks to raise the necessary cash. Several of Vilar's professional and philanthropic colleagues came to his aid by pledging more than $1.5 million. But it now appears that Vilar has failed to keep his end of the bargain, which was to put several pieces of his prized art collection up for auction at Christie's by June 27 as additional bail collateral.

According to the Post, an emergency hearing to discuss the bail was scheduled for today in front of U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Karas.

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