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Gregory J. Blotnick

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Gregory Blotnick
Born
Gregory Joshua Blotnick

(1986-11-12) November 12, 1986 (age 38)
New York, New York, U.S.
EducationColumbia Business School (MBA)
Lehigh University (BS, Finance)
OccupationHedge fund manager
Criminal statusReleased
ParentSrully Blotnick (father)
Conviction(s)Wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343) (1 count)
Money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1957) (1 count)
Criminal penalty51 months in prison

Gregory Joshua Blotnick (born November 12, 1986) is an American hedge fund manager and author. He is the founder and portfolio manager of Brattle Street Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund based in New York. Blotnick launched the fund in 2019 after leaving Citadel LLC. In 2021, he pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges associated with claiming Paycheck Protection Program loans.[1][2][3]

Blotnick has written for Forbes,[4] Fortune,[5] the CFA Institute,[6][7][8] Kiplinger.[9] Newsmax,[10] ValueWalk,[11] MarketWatch,[12][13] and Financial Sense.[14] His Twitter account (@brattlestcap) was recognized as a “must-follow” by Business Insider and Forbes.[15][16] Blotnick holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, and a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

In June 2022, Blotnick pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1341, 18 U.S.C. § 1957). He was sentenced to 51 months in prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $6.8 million.[17][18][19][20][21] In November 2024, he was released early from FCI Coleman.

Early life and education

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Blotnick was born in 1986 in New York City, the son of Srully Blotnick, an author and PhD in cell biology from Harvard Medical School. Blotnick grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated from Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in 2005. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Lehigh University in 2009 and became a CFA Charterholder in 2012. He completed an MBA at Columbia Business School in 2014.[10]

Career

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After graduating Lehigh University in 2009, Blotnick was hired as an analyst at Doubloon Capital, a hedge fund founded by Tom Hudson of Pirate Capital. He later joined Adam Sender’s Exis Capital before pursuing an MBA at Columbia Business School. In 2017, Citadel LLC hired Blotnick as a Consumer/Retail sector specialist, where he was part of a five-person team managing over $1 billion in gross market value. In 2019, he founded Brattle Street Capital after departing from Citadel.[1]

Brattle Street was a New York-based hedge fund manager that focuses on opportunities within the consumer/retail sector, particularly amidst small- and mid-cap equities that are too illiquid for larger hedge funds to consider actionable. "Managers at large market-neutral firms are unable to adjust portfolios dynamically due to a wide variety of constraints and mandate restrictions," Blotnick stated. "Our fund is designed to capitalize on the inefficiencies that result from these constraints, while also broadening our time horizon beyond the typical months-long window that our competitors are forced to operate under." Brattle Street planned to cap its strategy at approximately $250 million in order to stay nimble and focus on outperformance. By keeping the fund on the small side and with a mandate to hold on to positions if warranted, Brattle Street was designed to appeal to investors that want an uncorrelated source of return. "We're focused on working with investors with a patient capital base - primarily family offices and high net worth investors - who understand the nature of the strategy and have a time horizon that can support it," Blotnick said.[22]

Criminal conviction

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On April 12, 2021, Blotnick was arrested by the Manhattan District Attorney and charged on April 16th, 2021, with Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud.[23]

On May 6, 2021, Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Blotnick in the Federal District of New Jersey.[24][25]

In July 2021, Blotnick was indicted in Manhattan Criminal Court and ordered to be held on $500,000 cash bail on Rikers Island pending his next court appearance in October 2021.[26][27]

In October 2021, Blotnick pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges for submitting fraudulent loan applications as part of the March 2020 COVID-19 Economic stimulus bill.[28]

In June 2022, a Federal court sentenced Blotnick to 51 months in prison for attempting to fraudulently obtain over $6.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.[17][18][19][2][29]

In August 2022, Blotnick settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by consenting to a cease-and-desist order without admitting or denying the charges.[30]

In November 2024, Blotnick was released early from FCI Coleman Low and transferred to Miami RRM to serve the remainder of his sentence.

References

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  1. ^ a b Musgrave, Jane. "WPB hedge fund manager headed to prison over $6.8M Paycheck Protection Program fraud". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  2. ^ a b Shazar, Jon (2022-06-08). "Ex-Citadel COVID Scammer's Lockdown Extended By Four Years". Dealbreaker. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  3. ^ "Citadel Alum Greg Blotnick Launches Brattle Street Capital | Hedge Fund News From HedgeCo.Net". Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  4. ^ "Greg Blotnick - Gregory Blotnick". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  5. ^ "Greg Blotnick". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  6. ^ "Top Five Articles from February: Buffett, Bernanke, and the Trials of Decision Making". CFA Institute Enterprising Investor. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  7. ^ "Gauging Market Sentiment: Selling Greed Is Harder Than Buying Fear". Seeking Alpha.
  8. ^ "Weekend Reads: The Call of the Void". CFA Institute Enterprising Investor. 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  9. ^ "Articles by Greg Blotnick, CFA | KIPLINGER". Kiplinger.com. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  10. ^ a b "Greg Blotnick - Biography". Newsmax.
  11. ^ Blotnick, Greg (2016-10-20). "Short Selling In A Bull Market - Common Mistakes In Security Selection". ValueWalk. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  12. ^ "Investors are dumping hedge funds just when they're needed most". MarketWatch.
  13. ^ "As the 'Trump trade' fades, technology and consumer stocks are revealed as bargains". MarketWatch.
  14. ^ "Greg Blotnick CFA's Blog". Financial Sense. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  15. ^ "The 129 finance people you have to follow on Twitter". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  16. ^ Guppta, Kavi. "Seven Twitter Profiles That Have Something Important To Say". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  17. ^ a b "District of New Jersey | New York And Florida Resident Sentenced To 51 Months In Prison For $6.8 Million Paycheck Protection Program Fraud Scheme | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  18. ^ a b "D.A. Bragg: Gregory Blotnick Sentenced to 1 to 3 Years for Multimillion-Dollar "PPP" Loan Scam and Securities Fraud". Manhattan District Attorney's Office. 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  19. ^ a b Hutcheon, Peter D. (2023-02-06). "Even-handed Thievery: SEC Sanctions Unregistered Investment Adviser for Fraudulent: I) Investment Advice, AND II) Filings for PPP Loans". Biz Law Blog. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  20. ^ "Former-Citadel analyst sentenced to four years in jail over hedge fund Covid scam - Hedgeweek". 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  21. ^ Musgrave, Jane. "WPB hedge fund manager headed to prison over $6.8M Paycheck Protection Program fraud". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  22. ^ Knab, Matthias. "Citadel alum Greg Blotnick launches Brattle Street Capital - Opalesque". www.opalesque.com. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  23. ^ Brandt, Libertina. "A New York City investment manager has been charged with stealing over $2.4 million through PPP loans". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  24. ^ "Office of Public Affairs | New York City Man Charged with Nearly $4 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme and Money Laundering | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  25. ^ "Criminal Division | Fraud Section Enforcement Related to the CARES Act". www.justice.gov. 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  26. ^ Shazar, Jon (2021-07-22). "Hedge Fund Manager About To Plead Guilty To Defrauding PPP Won't Avoid Rikers". Dealbreaker. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  27. ^ Roberts, Georgett; O’Neill, Jesse (2021-07-22). "Hedge fund manager Gregory Blotnick accused in COVID scam, held on $500K bail". Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  28. ^ "Ex-Citadel Analyst Gets 51 Months in Prison for Covid Scam (1)".
  29. ^ "Ex-Citadel analyst gets over 4 years in prison for hedge fund Covid scam". The Business Times. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  30. ^ "SEC.gov | SEC Charges Private Fund Adviser and Principal with Fraud". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
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