Featured Story
It has now been revealed that the fall of Dan Kamensky’s Marble Ridge Capital was at the hands of a former Navy SEAL, turned trader.
Joe Femenia, the head of distressed-debt trading at Jefferies Financial Group, is the man who was outlined in court filings as having taped conversations that brought the hedge fund down, according to Bloomberg. The fund fell after Kamensky urged Femenia to not submit a bid for part of bankrupt retailer Neiman Marcus.
Jefferies and Marble Ridge had been involved in a standoff regarding Neiman Marcus, as they both sought to bid for a portion of the company’s online business, MyTheresa.
Femenia sounded the alarm on the dubious tactic and raised the issue with a U.S. trustee. Highlighting the issue forced Kamensky to acknowledge he had committed a “grave mistake” and forced him to ultimately shut down his fund.
Legal filings show Kamensky telling Femenia to “Stand DOWN”. Probably not a bright thing to say to a Navy SEAL…Photo: Bloomberg
They continued with Kamensky telling Femenia: “DO NOT SEND IN A BID.” This was followed by a “confrontational” phone call between the two, according to court filings.
Femenia took the altercation to Jefferies’ general counsel, who then disclosed it to an official creditor committee that was supervising the sale. Kamensky then urged Femenia, on a second phone call, to “treat the conversation off the books”. He also urged Femenia to “change his recollection” of how their first call went but, by then, Femenia was recording the call.
Kamensky pleaded: “[I]f you’re going to continue to tell them what you just told me, I’m going to jail, OK? Because they’re going to say that I abused my position as a fiduciary, which I probably did, right? Maybe I should go to jail. But I’m asking you not to put me in jail.”
Receive a daily recap featuring a curated list of must-read stories.
Veteran trader Eric Rosen said: “I have known Joe and always found him to be an honest, upstanding guy and a straight shooter. He risked his life for our country and he seems to have done the honorable thing here.”
Femenia’s track record includes graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy before being a SEAL and spending “much of his 20s” fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. He previously worked at the elite trading group at Goldman Sachs before moving to Jefferies in 2016
StevieRay Hansen
Editor, BankstersCrime
God often uses men who are not of the best moral character. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Herod, and Trump (amongst others), to accomplish His will in events He orchestrates during human history. We either trust the sovereignty of God or we don’t. Nothing happens apart from Him…
The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back…
The Birth Pains Are Growing Stronger….
One of the signs of ruling class collapse is when they can no longer enforce the rules that maintain them as a ruling class. When the Romans started making exceptions to republican governance, it was a matter of time before someone simply decided the rules no longer applied to them. Perhaps the robot historians will consider Obama our Marius or Sulla. Maybe that person is in the near future. Either way, the rule of law is over and what comes next is the rule of men.
“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.” Outlaw Josey Wales
WE NOW LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS PURE FABRICATION
Don't Miss
Nasdaq Tumbles Into Red, Erases Vaccine Spike As ‘Memo Meltdown’ Continues
All major US equity indices spiked in the early hours overnight on the back of optimistic vaccine headlines from Russia. However, while Russell 2000 futures…
Read More
The Economy Is Mortally Wounded
A fully financialized, totally debt and speculation-dependent economy is terminal once leverage and debt stop expanding exponentially. We all know the movie scene in which…
Read More
Morgan Stanley Sounds The Alarm On Record High Bond Duration, Is Starting To Buy Bond Volatility
You Have More Duration than You Think 2020 has seen a pandemic inflict enormous human and economic cost. In 2Q, the global economy contracted by…
Read More
Another Bank Bailout Under Cover of a Virus
Bulls Charge To All-Time Highs As discussed previously in “Insanely Stupid,” we noted the market remained confined to its consolidation channel, but the bullish bias was to…
Read More
S&P Futures Hit All Time Highs On Stimulus, Vaccine Hopes; Gold, Silver Tumble
S&P 500 futures hit a record high as investors shrugged off continuing U.S.-China tensions and instead focused on news of an approved, if largely unclear,…