A potential silver lining to finally being arrested Saturday in Florence, if Florian Homm is trying to look on the bright side.

Florian Homm, 53, was taken into custody by Italian police at 12:30 p.m. on March 8 at the world-famous museum that houses Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation…Homm is accused in a criminal complaint filed March 6 in federal court in Los Angeles of defrauding investors in hedge funds he controlled, causing $200 million in losses. He is charged with four counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud. He faces as long as 75 years in prison if convicted on all counts. The founder and former chief investment officer of Absolute Capital Management Holdings Ltd. is accused of “cross trading” billions of shares of penny stocks between the company’s funds to boost the value of the otherwise illiquid securities.

Homm recently published a book in German called “Rogue Financier: The Adventures of an Estranged Capitalist,” according to the affidavit. In the book, Homm, who is about 6 foot, 6 inches (2 meters) tall, wrote that he had “$500,000 stashed in my underwear, my briefcase and my cigar box,” when he left Palma de Mallorca on a private plane Sept. 18, 2007. His “mule and friend Giorgio” was carrying another $700,000, according to the translation in the affidavit. “As the jet climbed I was profoundly unsettled, my mind in a dense fog,” Homm said in the book, according to the court filing. “I was breaking all connections to my former existence: colleagues, clients, acquaintances, friends, bimbos, dogs, family and children, and annihilating my fast fortune in the process.” When he left Mallorca, Homm wrote, he packed the cash around his waist in the very tight Calvin Klein underwear he was wearing and on both sides of his genitals. The money added about 5 centimeters (2 inches) to his waist size, making him look like the “Michelin man,” Homm said, referring to the tire company’s advertising cartoon figure.

Fugitive Fund Manager Stuffed Underwear With Cash, Fled [Bloomberg]
Related: German Hedge Fund Manager Who Fled To South America And Lived Under An Assumed Name For 5 Years To “Find Meaning” In His Life Has Learned A Few Things

Comments (24)

  1. Posted by UBS Tag Quant | March 11, 2013 at 11:36 AM

    Bess, not to be a picker of nits but there's a typo in the " mules and friensd [sic] named Giorgio" tag. I only flag this since I see that tag getting a lot of play moving forward and want to be able to easily find my Giorgio related posts.

  2. Posted by Nick Lachey | March 11, 2013 at 11:47 AM

    If the whores come back regardless of the cash, doesnt that just make them sluts?

  3. Posted by Texashedge | March 11, 2013 at 12:04 PM

    There's always money in the banana stand

  4. Posted by Florian Homm | March 11, 2013 at 12:12 PM

    I've made a huge mistake

  5. Posted by quant me maybe... | March 11, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    Nope, future ex-wives.

  6. Posted by Zing! | March 11, 2013 at 12:30 PM

    "Is that a half million in your pants or are you just happy to see me?"

  7. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 12:35 PM

    Gordini Gecko?

  8. Posted by DSK | March 11, 2013 at 12:38 PM

    Exactly

  9. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    *banana hammock*

  10. Posted by Florian Homm | March 11, 2013 at 1:03 PM

    bimbos> dogs> family and children

  11. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 1:07 PM

    He could have hid more money in his anal sack.

    -Dr. Dennis Kneale

  12. Posted by Marty McFly | March 11, 2013 at 1:41 PM

    Calvin? Wh… Why do you keep calling me Calvin?

    Well, that is your name, isn’t it? Calvin Klein? It’s written all over your underwear.

  13. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 1:49 PM

    Disappointed to see 'very tight Calvin Klein underwear' has only had a single outing.

  14. Posted by Trebek | March 11, 2013 at 2:06 PM

    Soooo…replace "$500,000…" with "Quaaludes…" = Wolf of Wall Street

  15. Posted by JTF | March 11, 2013 at 2:08 PM

    We can tell you enjoy a good cigar… when can you come in for a chat?

    -John Thomas Financial HR

  16. Posted by Poppins Holderbrook | March 11, 2013 at 2:15 PM

    "The money added about 5 centimeters (2 inches) to his waist size, making him look like the 'Michelin man,' Homm said, referring to the tire company’s advertising cartoon figure."

    What a comical image. I'll bet he looked positively silly.

  17. Posted by PermaGuestII | March 11, 2013 at 2:59 PM

    Why did he have to pack the cash into his underwear if he was on a private plane?

  18. Posted by lucas | March 11, 2013 at 3:01 PM

    At best, the extra inches around his waist made him look like an American hedge fund manager.

  19. Posted by M. Vick | March 11, 2013 at 3:38 PM

    I bet that is a Ron Mexico cigar.

  20. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    Obviously, you're not a golfer.

  21. Posted by Guest | March 11, 2013 at 4:20 PM

    When Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management called me back for interview number 19, I knew there was only 1 thing to do. I walked in confidently packing an extra 2 inches around the waist and gave them a smile. The interviewers returned the smile, got up, shook my hand and welcomed me to the firm.

  22. Posted by Mrs_Slocombe | March 11, 2013 at 5:49 PM

    He Einstein, there is a 6 year statue of limitations on securities fraud claims……thanks for the admission of guilt in your “self-published” “Rogue Financier”…..should have been titled “Gloating Idiot”.

    —Future Homm Cellmate who does not wear underwear

  23. Posted by James Mahone | March 12, 2013 at 12:55 AM

    Long over due, left like coward.

  24. Posted by Guest | March 12, 2013 at 5:19 PM

    Ditto. You're gonna go far/be a big star.

    - Pink Floyd