Crime & Safety
New Trier Grad Accused of Bilking Investors Out of $1.5M
Clayton Cohn is charged with wire fraud after allegations he used money from more than 35 clients for his own benefit.
A former Winnetka resident and owner of three Chicago financial firms is accused of defrauding his clients out of more than $1.5 million, keeping their money instead of investing as he promised, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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Clayton Andrew Cohn, 29, and a 2005 New Trier High School grad, is charged with wire fraud. If convicted, Cohn could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
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Prosecutors claim that while Cohn ran Marketaction Inc., Marketaction Advisors LLC, and the hedge fund Marketaction Capital Management LLC, from 2010 to 2013, he told investors that his firms were thriving from numerous investments. But that wasn't the case, and his companies had limited investments.
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Cohn then siphoned large amounts of money from about 37 clients' investments and used those funds for his own personal benefits, prosecutors claim.
This isn't the first time Cohn's been accused of financial wrongdoing. In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down a hedge fund run by Cohn, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and filed a civil suit against him, claiming he targeted and defrauded current and former military service members. The SEC also provided helpful information to the U.S. Attorney's criminal investigation.
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