BULLETIN: Bench Warrant Issued For Ponzi Schemer Who Ran Commodities Caper, Ripped Off Condo Association To Keep Scheme Afloat And Appeared On CNBC As Trading Analyst, CFTC Says

Brian Kim appeared on CNBC repeatedly and offered commentary on Asian derivatives and other matters, according to a photo exhibit in the CFTC case filed today and information published on Kim's website.

BULLETIN: A federal judge has frozen the assets of a trader and television analyst charged criminally by a New York County grand jury with multiple felonies in an alleged commodity-pool Ponzi scheme and charged civilly by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the same caper.

Brian Kim, 35, is a “fugitive,” declared Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., noting that the criminal and civil charges announced today were not Kim’s first encounter with the law.

Indeed, Vance said, Kim failed to appear for his January trial in New York State Superior Court after being charged in late 2009 with stealing $430,000 from Christadora House, the New York condominium complex at which he resided.

In the civil filings today, the CFTC accused Kim of taking the money from the condo association by forging documents and using the cash to keep his long-running fraud scheme afloat. The theft allegedly occurred in June 2008, months prior to appearances Kim made on an American television network to offer commentary on issues such as the Dubai debt crisis, derivatives trading in Asia and so-called “dark pools” that provide institutional investors outlets to trade anonymously in murky conditions.

The commodities scheme continued while Kim was free on bail and awaiting trial on the charges of ripping off the  condo association, the CFTC charged, alleging that Kim also lied to the National Futures Association about his business practices.

“The defendant induced his clients to make risky and speculative investments by portraying himself as an accomplished trader and money manager,” said Vance. He added that a bench warrant has been issued for Kim’s arrest.

It was not immediately clear if either Vance or the CFTC knew Kim’s current whereabouts. Manhattan investigators said he stole about $4 million from “at least” 45 investors.

Vance is the current, real-life embodiment of the fictitious Manhattan district attorney portrayed on the long-running “Law & Order” crime drama on the NBC television network. Adding to America’s real-life Ponzi drama and its often bizarre nature, Kim has appeared multiple times on CNBC, a prominent business channel, as an expert financial commentator.

Kim, the operator of a hedge fund known as Liquid Capital Management LLC, appeared on CNBC at least three times in 2009, according to his website.

While reporters were asking Kim to analyze marketplace developments and share his thoughts with the TV audience, he was at the helm of a complex, ongoing Ponzi and fraud scheme and presiding over a cover-up, according to court filings.