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Yale Student Ran Million-Dollar Hedge Fund Scam, Feds Say

He allegedly claimed he had an algorithm that produced phenomenal returns.

A Yale student ran a million-dollar hedge fund scam, spinning a web of lies to convince 11 investors to entrust their cash to him, federal regulators say. Omar Zaki, who has since graduated from the Ivy League university, was found to have violated the law by the Securities and Exchange Commission and struck a settlement that bans him from investment advising for at least three years. The SEC said Zaki, 21, raised $1.7 million by telling clients he used an algorithm that produced amazing returns over a 10-year period—but the formula was never actually used and the fund had never traded before 2017. The SEC said Zaki, who graduated from Yale last year with an economic degree and is currently unemployed, agreed to pay a $25,000 fine.