Munder Capital Management has been appointed to manage the $100 million Amerindo Technology D Fund, whose previous managers were jailed on charges they misappropriated a client's funds, Munder Capital said in a regulatory filing last Monday.
Effective June 3, Birmingham, Mich.-based Munder Capital, which manages $36.7 billion in assets, will assume day-to-day management of the Amerindo fund, the filing said.
Last week, the board of Amerindo Funds said it had replaced founder and CEO Alberto Vilar and President Gary Tanaka because of criminal complaints that have landed the pair in jail, according to a form 497 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Wall Street Journal also reported last week that Vilar spent the weekend before last in jail, due to his failure to post $4 million in cash or goods on a $10 million bond. He reportedly was only able to pledge a friend's home in Southampton with a value of $1.8 million.
U.S. prosecutors filed a complaint nearly two weeks ago accusing investment managers Vilar and Tanaka, both renowned in the industry, of spending a client's funds. As a result, the board appointed Dana Smith, chief compliance officer, as acting president, while freezing the sale of fund shares.
A judge appointed a lawyer to monitor Amerindo after the Commission said a receiver should be appointed. Additionally, the fund's auditors have been retained to conduct a special audit of the fund in light of the transgressions.
Attorneys for both men have denied the charges.
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