Brookline Man with Ties to Bernie Madoff Admits to Investment Scheme

Marco Bitran, a Brookline resident with ties to Bernie Madoff, has agreed to plead guilty to misleading investors who trusted him with about half a billion dollars.

Bitran’s 69-year-old father, Gabriel, a Newton resident, was also charged. Marco Bitran is 39.

Authorities said from 2005 through 2011, the pair ran GMB Capital Management and lied to investors, falsely claiming they managed funds that delivered huge returns. They managed about $500 million and allegedly charged “millions” in fees.

“In 2008, several of the Bitrans’ hedge funds had disastrous losses, resulting in investors losing 50–75 percent of their principal in many instances,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement. “Nonetheless, in the fall of 2008, as their funds were experiencing these losses, Gabriel and Marco Bitran redeemed approximately $12 million of their own money from these hedge funds, while deferring other investors’ requests for redemption.”

Bloomberg reported the pair invested clients’ money in funds managed by Bernie Madoff, who was convicted of running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Read more about the Bitrans’ case

Photo: Marco Bitran. (Credit: Marco Bitran Twitter account)