Subprime suicide: Notorious broker found dead

By Martha C. White

A disgraced securities broker who was one of the subprime mortgage market's chief magicians?was found dead of an apparent suicide in his South Florida condo this week. Cliff Popper?seemingly created wealth out of thin air ? until it all collapsed in 2007. His firm pocketed commissions of more than $16 million in just three years, but when investments backed by risky mortgages turned sour, Popper lost $100 million of investors' money.

When he died, Popper was waiting for a federal judge to hand down a decision in a civil fraud trial brought by the the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brookstreet Securities, where Popper was a head trader, imploded when the subprime mortgage market crashed. Investors, many of whom had sunk their life savings into the subprime mortgage-backed securities Popper peddled, were left with nothing. Two years later, the SEC charged Popper and nine of his former colleagues with fraud, and he declared bankruptcy in July of that year.?

"Many...?customers lost their savings, their homes, and/or their ability to retire or stay retired," the SEC said in its complaint.

Before all of that, this modern-day Icarus was living what a lawyer representing his victims called a "rockstar life," replete with flashy cars, a $2.4 million condo and a taste for expensive prostitutes and the company of porn stars, according to the Miami Herald. Investigators searched for hidden assets, but they never found anything. Popper died broke, and he left the people who entrusted their nest eggs to him in the same state.?

At his trial, Popper defended himself, insisting that he didn't mislead his investors about the risks hidden in the complex financial instruments he sold them. But he'd allegedly made his fortune targeting unsophisticated retail investors via newspaper and radio ads, people who would have no idea how dangerous their investments really were until they were wiped out.

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/06/10005256-subprime-suicide-notorious-broker-found-dead

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