Investment Manager Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Swindling Clients Out of Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

CHICAGO — An investment manager has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly swindling a Chicago resident and other clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

EUGENE Z. NOWAK, 57, of Jersey City, N.J., is charged in an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago with three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of money laundering.  Arraignment is scheduled for Friday at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; William Hedrick, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kartik K. Raman.

According to the indictment, Nowak served as president of Global Funding Partners, a Nevada-based company that purported to be an investment firm engaged in complex business dealings with large multinational banking and financial institutions.  From 2013 to 2016, Nowak, while then residing in Naples, Fla., falsely represented to investors that their funds would be used to provide “bridge funding,” or temporary funding, for Global Funding Partners to close a $33 million financial transaction involving Scotiabank, the indictment states.  Nowak falsely promised that investors, including the Chicago resident, would receive high-yield returns in a short amount of time, and that they could cancel their investment at any time for a full refund with interest, the indictment states.

In reality, Nowak and Global Funding Partners were not parties to a transaction with Scotiabank.  Nowak instead allegedly diverted investor funds to cover his personal expenses, including payments to a car dealership and pawn shop in Naples, Fla.  As a result of the scheme, Nowak caused investors, including the Chicago resident, to suffer hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, the indictment states.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.