Judge Is Asked to Have Receiver Run Amerindo

The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge Wednesday to appoint a receiver to take control of New York-based Amerindo Investment Advisors after its two co-founders, Alberto Vilar and Gary Tanaka, were jailed on criminal charges last week.

The SEC sued Amerindo in federal court in New York, along with Vilar and Tanaka, who remain in custody.

The agency wants a receiver to oversee operation of the firm and an accounting of Amerindo’s finances.

“Other than Vilar or Tanaka, there does not appear to be an individual at Amerindo with full decision-making authority, who has the resources to address client concerns and account for all funds and investments,” the SEC said in its complaint. “A receiver should be appointed.”

Vilar, 64, and Tanaka, 61, were arrested last week and accused of stealing client funds.

Federal prosecutors in New York said Vilar, a multimillionaire money manager and benefactor to the world’s leading opera and ballet centers, stole $5 million from an unidentified client. Tanaka was charged with using client funds to buy racehorses.

Both men are being held in a federal detention center in New York. They will appear in court later this week.

The SEC says a receiver needs to take control of Amerindo to respond to investor questions.

Amerindo soared to prominence with the dot-com stock boom in the late 1990s, but its funds crashed with the technology bust of 2000-02.

The firm had less than $1 billion under management earlier this year.