DETROIT – Andrew H. Middlebrooks, the former majority owner, chief executive officer, chief investment officer, and portfolio manager of EIA All Weather Alpha Fund 1 Partners (EIA), has been sentenced to 100 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges.
Court documents revealed that Middlebrooks devised and executed a scheme to obtain over $39 million from investors through false and fraudulent material representations and promises.
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During the scheme to defraud, Middlebrooks, 33, was the majority owner, chief executive officer, and portfolio manager for EIA All Weather Alpha Fund (EIA).
Court documents revealed that Middlebrooks solicited clients for EIA by telling them he could exploit “inefficiencies” in global equity markets, which would result in large returns for investors.
But the EIA’s fund failed to produce the predicted returns and suffered catastrophic losses.
Instead of informing EIA’s existing investors that the fund was failing, court documents revealed Middlebrooks solicited new investors with false statements about the fund’s performance and lulled existing investors by lying to them about the returns their investments generated.
Court documents revealed that Middlebrooks also created and through
In one document, created in the fall of 2019, Middlebrooks falsely claimed that EIA’s track record included a cumulative return of 476.81% with 81.82% of monthly trading showing a profit.
Eventually, Middlebrooks’ scheme collapsed, resulting in losses to 97 investors exceeding $34 million.