$9 Million Investment Fraud: Leesburg Man Pleads Guilty

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A former hedge fund manager from Leesburg pleaded guilty Friday to wire fraud as part of a plea agreement, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Tamer Moumen, 39, faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars when he's sentenced July 28. Actual sentences for federal crimes, though, are typically less than the maximum penalties.

Moumen bilked more than 50 investors — many of whom were nearing retirement age — out of some $9 million between 2012-2017. He used the money to buy, among other things, a $1 million personal home in Leesburg, and pay back old investors. He told investors he was a successful trader who consistently beat the S&P500 and was overseeing tens of millions of dollars through his company, Crescent Ridge Capital Partners.

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He didn't tell investors he actually had no experience managing a hedge fund or that he had a history of losing money in the securities market. Instead, he encouraged dozens of clients to liquidate their other investments and retirement accounts and invest with him.

Moumen lost or spent his clients' money withing a matter of weeks or months of their original investments. He hid that particular fact by providing phony statements showing the investments were steadily growing.

Beginning in 2015, he was involved in two fundraising effort that solicited money for refugees: a GoFundMe campaign and the Northern Virginia Refugee fund. He had sole control of the donated funds, which he used to pay personal expenses.

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