Investor Vilar indicted by US grand jury

NEW YORK - Arts patron and investor Alberto Vilar has been indicted by a grand jury after US prosecutors charged Vilar two weeks ago with stealing US$5 million ($7.1 million) from a long-time client and friend.

The grand jury charged Vilar with eight counts of fraud and money laundering in an indictment that is the same as a complaint filed two weeks ago in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Vilar, whose early calls on technology stocks such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco and others before they soared in the late 1990s made him rich, was arrested May 26. His investment firm, Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc, rescinded his authority and appointed a company to manage its mutual fund.

Vilar has been unable to meet US$10 million bail and has been jailed in the Metropolitan Correctional Centre.

Forbes magazine estimated Vilar was a billionaire a few years ago, but his lawyer said last week he had less than US$10,000 in a bank account and a tax lien on a luxurious Manhattan apartment.

Calls to Vilar's lawyer, Susan Necheles, were not immediately returned.

- REUTERS