Graduated from the Harvard Business School responsible for defrauding another former old out of $ 4 million in the Ponzi program

Vladimir Artamonov, 46, was placed in police custody in Elkridge, Maryland, where he lived, and was accused of fraud of titles, thread and investment advisor for having pretended the program from September 2021 to February 2024.

An uncle -sealed accusation act before the Federal Court of Manhattan said that Artamonov had promised great yields and little risk of deceiving former classmates and other former students to invest with him, saying to an investor: “It will be your best investment. Persepicacity is tightened.”

Messages for comments left with Harvard and a lawyer for Artamonov were not immediately returned. Artamonov, comparing before a magistrate judge from the Maryland Federal Court, was released on bail of $ 300,000 with instructions so as not to contact with victims or potential witnesses.

The allegations against Artamonov were revealed for the first time at the end of February 2024 by the Prosecutor General of New York, Letitia James, who said in a press release when her office had learned fraud after one of the several dozens of investors had ended his own life after learning that he had lost $ 100,000.

“Even sophisticated investors can be confiscated by fraudsters, especially when personal relationships and networks are used to build a false feeling of confidence,” said James.

She said that Artamonov “used her Harvard business school status to tackle her classmates and others while seeming to be legitimate and reliable”.

Artamonov, a graduate of Harvard in 2003 with a master’s degree in business administration, used the school of the school alumni to identify investors, the authorities said.

The indictment said that he had promised investors that he could identify the securities about to carry out important gains by identifying the files of the public insurance company by the affiliated companies of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. before the public documents deposited at the Securities and Exchange Commission which are more closely followed by investors.

Instead of following this plan, Artamonov has made money to investors in risky short -term options, losing millions of dollars, often in the days following receipt of investors’ money, said the indictment.

He said that he has repeatedly assured investors that large profits were on the horizon and even promised an investor that he was “almost certain that we will soon earn a ton of money” and that they “boast” of their “crazy winnings” at the meeting of the Harvard Business School.

Investors finally demanded their money, which means that Artamonov returns less than $ 400,000 by paying original investors with new investors money or refusing to reimburse them, said the indictment.

He said that Artamonov has lost most of the money or spent tens of thousands of dollars on items such as accommodation, food and alcohol and transport.

Christopher G. Raia, head of the New York FBI office, said in a press release that Artamonov “exploited the prestige of a university and an investment company that respects illegally rocky investments, which he used to pay for personal expenses.”

American lawyer Jay Clayton said that Artamonov “betrayed investors, including friends and former classmates of the Ivy League”.

Global Forum fortune returns on October 26 to 27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and world leaders will meet for a dynamic event only invitation that shapes the future of business. Request an invitation.