In a generally undistinguished academic career, Dana Giacchetto excelled in one course during his brief time in Harvard University's extension program: "Fiction Skills Workshop."
Storytelling seems to be an innate talent for the one-time celebrity money manager, now facing up to 20 years in federal prison for allegedly defrauding clients. Giacchetto earned an A- in the course, according to court records, in contrast with the mostly Cs he earned during the early part of his academic career at the University of Massachusetts.
For the people who kept buying into his tales, Giacchetto's talent has been a curse, however. While many high-profile clients such as Michael Ovitz, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio apparently got their money out with the help of high-priced lawyers and accountants, smaller investors often saw their savings depleted.
People such as New York artists Robert and Cara Wood Ginder, a couple who said they were friends of Giacchetto for more than a decade, lost much of their $600,000 retirement nest egg and college fund for their 3-year-old daughter.
"I am not an experienced investor, and rely on Giacchetto and Cassandra [Group] to manage those assets that comprise all of my life savings," said Robert Ginder in an affidavit on file with the SEC.
The spotlight so far has followed Giacchetto's star clients--which according to SEC documents also included musician Bob Dylan; Steven Spielberg's wife, Kate Capshaw; and art gallery owner Arne Glimcher--but many of his victims were lesser known. The experiences of the Ginders and others are laid out in an array of letters, affidavits, tape recordings and e-mails showing why Giacchetto is accused of using his charms to take advantage of friends and unsophisticated artists. He confused and misled them as he allegedly shifted $20 million of their funds through accounts to pay for his lifestyle and cover his tracks. More than $6 million of that amount is still missing, according to federal authorities, who suspect the total might be higher.
Giacchetto, 37, once dubbed the "rock-and-roll money manager" by GQ magazine, was arrested last week, on three felony counts of defrauding clients, committing investment advisory fraud and lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission through his investment company, Cassandra Group. He is free on a $1-million bond secured in part by his parents' $500,000 home in Medford, Mass. Giacchetto's lawyer, Robert Levander, has so far declined to answer questions about the case.
