ATLANTA - After a two-week trial, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Kirk Wright of Marietta, Ga., on charges of mail fraud, securities fraud and money laundering relating to the 2006 collapse of Wright's Atlanta-based investment firm, International Management Associates (IMA), U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia David E. Nahmias announced today. The jury found Wright guilty on all counts.

According to the information presented in court, Wright was the founder, Chief Executive Officer and portfolio manager of IMA, which offered seven separate hedge funds from approximately 1997 through early 2006. IMA also maintained offices in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. By early 2006, IMA had thousands of client accounts and had taken in more than $150 million in investments.

The evidence showed that Wright had been lying to his many investors since at least 2001 about the investment performance they were enjoying and about the balances in their accounts. He reported substantial investment gains almost every month, when in fact, the evidence revealed that he lost almost every dollar invested in the market. He also reported balances in client accounts that were up to 200 times greater than what actually existed. During the period of the scheme, the evidence showed that Wright diverted millions of dollars of investors' money for personal expenditures, including cash for himself and family members, jewelry, house renovations, a $500,000 wedding, up to six luxury vehicles and multiple pieces of real estate, mainly in Atlanta and California.

The evidence at trial also included dozens of fabricated records supposedly received from brokerage firms at which IMA maintained accounts, which falsely reported investment gains and account balances that did not exist. Witnesses explained that Wright used such records to validate the performance figures he was publishing to his internal staff, accountants and investors.

IMA collapsed in early 2006, after several investors requested distributions, received bad checks and filed lawsuits. This investor group included several former National Football League players who, along with other victims, testified at the trial.

As IMA collapsed, Wright withdrew $500,000 in cash - almost all the remaining money in IMA's accounts - and abandoned the firm and his life in Atlanta. He spent the next several months in hiding, including from a federal arrest warrant he knew had been issued in March 2006. After a nationwide manhunt organized by the FBI, Wright was arrested on May 17, 2006, at the pool of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Miami Beach, Fla., where he was staying under an alias. Evidence at trial showed that when he was arrested, Wright was in possession of numerous pieces of false identification and ID-making equipment, a Mercedes that he purchased via one of his aliases, as well as a substantial amount of cash. Wright remains in custody.

"A measure of justice was served today for the hundreds of investor-victims in the stunning collapse of International Management Associates," said U.S. Attorney Nahmias. "Those victims poured more than $150 million into Wright's hedge funds over the years, only to find in 2006 that the money was gone and that Wright had lied to them for years. We hope this verdict sends a message - both to the investing public about the need to carefully research any major investments especially in unregistered ventures or funds, and to fraudsters, who should know that they remain a major focus of federal law enforcement. We commend the excellent and difficult work done by agents of the FBI and IRS to investigate this significant investment fraud case."

Wright could receive a maximum sentence of 710 years in prison, a fine of up to $16,000,000 and restitution for all victims' losses. Wright has already been assessed a judgment of $20,000,000 as part of a civil enforcement action prosecuted by the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders. Wright's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26, 2008, before U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper.

"This case speaks volumes about the detrimental effects of financial crimes," said Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Rebecca A. Sparkman. "When the defendant in this case decided to commit this fraud and then laundered the millions of dollars of dirty money, he also added to the underground economy, eroded the integrity of our tax system and, most importantly, threatened the financial health of those who entrusted him with investing their savings."

The government will seek forfeiture of any and all property Wright obtained as a result of his illegal activity, including jewelry appraised at over $110,000, a 2004 Mercedes Benz E320 and $139,301 in cash.

Wright's case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, with the assistance of the staff of the SEC.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin S. Anand is prosecuting the case, along with Trial Attorney Jennifer R. Taylor from the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division.