IIG Capital

In 1994, David Hu and Martin Silver cofounded IIG Capital, an RIA firm based in Manhattan, and registered their company with the SEC. IIG was a New Jersey limited liability company that operated in New York. Hu worked as its chief investment officer, while Silver worked as its chief operating officer. Hu held a 50% stake in IIG. Ponzi scheme For more than a decade from 2007 to 2019, In 2020, Hu was arrested by authorities and charged with fraud by government regulators. The SEC accused Hu of organizing multiple frauds since October 2013, overvaluing assets, charging inflated fees, selling $60 million in fake loans, using the proceeds to pay earlier investors, hoodwinking clients by providing fake documentation for non-existent loans, forging credit, and fabricating promissory notes. In April 2021, Silver also pleaded guilty. In April 2022, U.S. District Manhattan Judge Alvin Hellerstein Silver was 65 years old at the time of his sentence. ==Operations==

IIG Capital primarily focuses on facilitating the financing of trade transactions involving commodities that can be hedged and liquidated easily. IIG Capital uses a structure it developed called “transactional equity,” in which the firm helps fund the down payment required from a merchant seeking financing from a bank; this process enables the merchant to qualify for the bank financing. The company specializes in global trade, investment funds, and loans. The company also provides advisory services and management through three private funds: the IIG Global Trade Finance Fund (GTFF), Structured Trade Finance Fund (STFF), and Trade Opportunities Fund (TOF). The firm provided loans for Central and South American small and medium-sized enterprises using food products, such as fish and coffee, as collateral. For example, they advised the Venezuela Recovery Fund (VRF) for a failed bank in Venezuela. ==References==