A former New York University student pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud Tuesday, admitting he used his student ID and expertly forged documents to pose as the heir to a billionaire Turkish family and trick investors into pouring millions into a nonexistent hedge fund.
Prosecutors spent hours Tuesday describing how Hakan Yalincak, 22, charmed his way into the exclusive world of high finance, shuttled counterfeit checks across the world and brokered deals with a Kuwaiti financier.
Yalincak’s fund, the Daedalus Capital Relative Fund I, wasn’t a legitimate investment, and prosecutors said investors lost more than $7 million — a figure Yalincak said is overstated. Prosecutors say the money was spent on a Porsche, a Tiffany diamond and a $1.25 million donation to NYU.
Yalincak’s mother claimed to be part of one of the world’s richest families. Other investors said they received financial statements showing the family’s net worth at more than $1 billion.
“This was all an attempt by the Yalincaks to establish their bona fideness to investors as a wealthy Turkish family,” prosecutor Calvin Kurimai said.
When he came up short, prosecutors said, Yalincak forged multimillion-dollar checks and passed them quickly through banks in Greenwich, Connecticut, New York and Switzerland, hoping to cash out before they caught on. When they froze the accounts, prosecutors said Yalincak blamed it on a mistake by the executor of his family’s estate.
Yalincak’s plea deal with prosecutors does not recommend a specific sentence. He faces up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced September 19. Yalincak’s mother, Ayferafet, is scheduled for a fraud trial next month.
NYU said it will return the donation once a court determines whom the money belongs to.
There is no patch for stupidity.
Daedalus?!?! Wow. It is like fiction following reality. I suppose he was destined to go a little too far…
He should get into the laptops-on-eBay business.
Hey, isn’t that Kevin Rose?
And he will still be charming while he bites into a pillow as a fellow prison inmate rapes him.