Amerindo Investment Advisors founder Alberto Vilar has pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing an investor's money, but as of yesterday afternoon the high-profile industry executive and philanthropist remained jailed because he's unable to raise bail.
On Monday, Vilar, 64, entered his plea in a Manhattan courtroom, The Wall Street Journal reports. He is still housed, however, in the Manhattan Metropolitan Correction Center, even though a judge scaled back the amount necessary to gain release to $4 million. According to Journal, Vilar has put up his $2 million personal art collection and four friends have offered to co-sign the bond. Another friend has offered his $1.8 million property in Southampton, N.Y.
Vilar's lawyer, Susan Necheles, blamed his inability to meet bail on "logistical problems" and said the matter should be resolved soon.
Either way, Vilar is still on the hook for allegedly using $5 million from investor Lily Cates for personal and business expenses. He told Cates, investigators said, that the money would be invested in a government-backed venture. Vilar reportedly used some of the money to fulfill donations he pledged to a pair of universities.
Since his arrest last month, management of Vilar's struggling Amerindo Technology fund, which was the darling of the last bull market, has been handed over to Birmingham, Mich.-based Munder Capital Management. Last week, a federal grand jury additionally indicted Vilar on charges of fraud.
