Former Great Neck resident Jeffrey Parket was charged with fraudulently obtaining $50 million in loans from at least two dozen individuals in five states, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. attorney’s office this month.
Parket, 48, received the funds from investors in New York, Florida, Minnesota, Utah and South Carolina from approximately November 2016 to November 2021, according to the complaint. Prosecutors said at least 17 of the investors provided Parket with $40 million in loans that have not been repaid.
Parket, a former bond trader who headed several hedge funds on Long Island and in New York City, was arrested on Feb. 11 and released on bail, while having to surrender his passport, according to officials. He was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
Officials said Parket told the individuals that he needed short-term financing for real estate investments and allegedly convinced family members to provide him with funds that, he said, would be used for other investments. Rather than investing family members’ life savings, officials said, Parket allegedly pledged all his assets as collateral and used those funds to repay other lenders.
He allegedly promised to repay investors with interest but used some loans to pay off other loans and day trading debts. Officials also said Parket falsely represented his net worth and ownership in other investment accounts to the individuals via emails, phone conversations, in-person meetings and other documents.
“Parket entered into loan agreements with the lenders and, to either prove his ability to repay the loans or to collateralize the loans, he provided the Lenders fake bank and brokerage statements, as well as elaborate documentation that purportedly reflected his ownership of significant assets and interests in various investment accounts,” the complaint said. “In furtherance of these false representations, Parket placed fake documents in the mail and sent at least one Lender a United States Postal Service receipt confirming the mailing.”
Efforts to reach Parket’s attorney Sam Braverman for comment were unavailing.
Parket previously acknowledged owing $5.5 million to lenders in other cases filed in New York state courts. One of the individuals from Minnesota whom Parket obtained funds from claimed to being defrauded of a $4 million loan after Parket listed a false net worth of $27.5 million, claiming jewelry worth more than $1 million.
