(Reuters) - The former chief executive and head trader of the bankrupt Sentinel Management Group Inc were indicted for allegedly defrauding customers out of more than $500 million before the firm went bankrupt in August 2007, Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said on Friday.
Eric Bloom, who was Sentinel's chief executive, and Charles Mosley were accused of misappropriating securities belonging to customers, and pledging them as collateral for a bank loan to fund a trading portfolio meant to benefit them and Bloom's family.
Bloom and Mosley were each charged with 18 counts of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud and one count of making false statements in an indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury, Fitzgerald said. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of more than $500 million, he said.
(Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
