Ex-MIT professor to plead guilty to securities fraud

BOSTON—A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and his son who ran hedge funds have agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud charges that federal prosecutors say cost their investors US$140 million. Federal prosecutors said 69-year-old Gabriel Bitran and 36-year-old Marco Bitran misled their investors, telling them they had a history of successfully earning money based on the elder Bitran’s theories.

Authorities say some money was put into funds connected to Bernard Madoff. The duo ultimately lost US$140 million of their investors’ principal. Some investors lost as much as 75 per cent of their principal. Both agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and obstruction of justice. Gabriel Bitran is a former professor and associate dean of MIT’s Sloan School.

AP