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In
papers filed with the federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors
said Caspersen, 40, who had worked at a unit of investment
banker Paul Taubman's PJT Partners Inc, abused the trust of his
victims through his "long-running, significant and elaborate"
fraud.
Prosecutors said the son of late Wall Street financier Finn M.W.
Caspersen ran a Ponzi-like scheme from November 2014 to March
2016 to defraud more than one dozen investors, claiming he would
use their funds to make loans to private equity firms.
Instead, prosecutors said Andrew Caspersen used money he raised
to trade in his own accounts and pay earlier investors.
Though lawyers for Caspersen have said a "pathological" gambling
disorder and mental health issues fueled their client's crimes,
prosecutors said the 151- to 188-month prison term recommended
under federal guidelines was justified.
The sentencing request came six days after Caspersen's lawyers
said the Princeton University and Harvard Law School graduate's
gambling addiction and efforts to rehabilitate himself were
among the "powerful mitigating circumstances" justifying
leniency.
Caspersen is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Nov. 4 by
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, a prominent critic of federal
sentencing guidelines.
The judge told Caspersen at his July 6 plea hearing that he
would consider the guidelines when imposing punishment, but that
they "border on the irrational, and I like a sentence to be
rational."
Caspersen has agreed not to appeal any prison term longer than
15-2/3 years. He also agreed to forfeit more than $45 million,
though his lawyer has said he cannot afford that sum.
The case is U.S. v. Caspersen, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 16-cr-00414.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting
by Nate Raymond; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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