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→‎Criminal charges: Similarities between cases? Don't cherry-pick irrelevancies.
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→‎Criminal charges: All of this is WP:WEASEL. I'm going to replace it with the facts.
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On October 12, 2009, the magazine [[The New Yorker (magazine)|''The New Yorker'']] published an extensive article on Martin Armstrong, titled "THE SECRET CYCLE - Is the financier Martin Armstrong a con man, a crank, or a genius?" <ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/12/091012fa_fact_paumgarten</ref>
On October 12, 2009, the magazine [[The New Yorker (magazine)|''The New Yorker'']] published an extensive article on Martin Armstrong, titled "THE SECRET CYCLE - Is the financier Martin Armstrong a con man, a crank, or a genius?" <ref>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/12/091012fa_fact_paumgarten</ref>


==Criminal charges==
==Criminal conviction==
He was indicted on September 29, 1999 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York <ref>Docket entry Sept. 29, 1999, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.</ref> for alleged fraud involving Japanese investors. After spending 7.5 years in federal prison for contempt of court without a trial,{{Cn}} he pleaded guilty on August 17, 2006 to one count of conspiracy.<ref>Docket entry Aug. 17, 2006, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.</ref> On April 10, 2007, he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison.<ref>Docket entry 150, April 10, 2007, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/business/28financier.html?_r=1 | work=The New York Times | title=Jailed 7 Years for Contempt, Adviser Is Headed for Prison | date=2007-04-28}}</ref> He was released from prison on September 2, 2011.<ref>http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=12518-050&x=68&y=9</ref> Armstrong's theory of [[business cycle]]s is called the [[Economic Confidence Model]].
What initially started as a fraud by employees of Republic Securities (the derivatives / futures division of the former Republic Bank New York) in Philadelphia in 1998 became one of the largest judiciary scandals in the United States in modern financial history.{{Cn|date=September 2012}}

Government investigators and prosecutors assigned blame to Armstrong, based on statements of Republic Securities employees, and promptly shut down the Princeton Economics International organization and incarcerated the chairman Martin Armstrong.

Upon Armstrong’s initiative from his cell, his Japanese clients finally filed suit in 2000 against Republic Securities (by then HSBC bank, after their take-over of Republic). In 2002, HSBC conceded and pled guilty (for the actions of Republic Securities) to theft and to defrauding Armstrong’s Japanese clients, resulting in a restitution of US$ 606 million to make them whole.

The New York City judges kept him incarcerated for another 5 years.{{Cn|date=September 2012}}

Finally the US supreme court ruled that Armstrong deserved to be heard by the court in New York.{{Cn|date=September 2012}}

Hhe was stripped of his preparation material by the prosecutors and immediately moved to solitary confinement. He entered a plea bargain <ref name="nytimes.com"/> , knowing it would be the only way out of his untenable situation and avoiding a threat of spending the next 135 years in jail.

As part of an agreement with the prosecutors, the prosecutors promised that Armstrong would receive credit for time served awaiting trial.{{Cn|date=September 2012}} This was the fundamental reason for his plea agreement.{{Cn|date=September 2012}} Furthermore, it was agreed that he would have the right to appeal the final sentencing. With the expectation that his liberty would be immediately restored, Armstrong pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy under a superseding indictment.

He based his decision to do so on a legal precedent whereby it had been ruled in another case that “if someone could no longer be charged with the underlying offence, they could not have conspired to commit it”.{{Cn|date=September 2012}}

During the allocution, the New York judge clearly stated that it had jurisdiction on the final decision to credit time served for civil contempt (close to 7 years).{{Cn|date=September 2012}} However, during the sentencing phase, the judge reneged and stated that the Federal Bureau of Prisons would be directed to decide; subsequently sentencing Armstrong to an additional 5 years of imprisonment, in addition to time already served. <ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/business/11wall.html | work=The New York Times | title=Jailed Adviser Is Sentenced and Fined in Fraud Case | date=2007-04-11}}</ref> The New York judge simply altered the underlying premise of the plea bargain.


==Family==
==Family==

Revision as of 06:55, 28 September 2012

Martin A. Armstrong
Born(1949-11-01)November 1, 1949
New Jersey
OccupationChairman
EmployerPrinceton Economics International Ltd
Known forcreater of the Economic Confidence Model[1]

Martin Arthur Armstrong (born November 1, 1949 in New Jersey) is the former chairman of Princeton Economics International Ltd. He was indicted on September 29, 1999 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York [2] for alleged fraud involving Japanese investors. After spending 7.5 years in federal prison for contempt of court without a trial,[citation needed] he pleaded guilty on August 17, 2006 to one count of conspiracy.[3] On April 10, 2007, he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison.[4][5] He was released from prison on September 2, 2011.[6] Armstrong's theory of business cycles is called the Economic Confidence Model.

Career

As a teenager, Armstrong worked at a rare stamp and coin dealership and became a millionaire at age fifteen. Then he opened his own store at age twenty-one. After studying historical gold prices, he developed a cyclical theory of commodity prices and began a company, Economic Consultants of Princeton.[7] During this time, Armstrong continued to collect gold and antiquities.

Armstrong was a frequent contributor to academic journals and often was sought for comment on financial topics.[citation needed] As an investor, he proved[citation needed] that his market timing approach predicted both the high-water mark of the Nikkei in 1989, months ahead of time, and also the July 20, 1998, high in the U.S. equities market.[citation needed]

In 1981 Armstrong formed Princeton Economics and, in 1998, he started to manage a hedge fund on behalf of Magnum Global Investments.

During that time he developed a financial prediction model called the "pi-cycle model" and published long term forecasts which are still monitored by the financial press. In the United Kingdom, for example, a popular financial magazine Money Week published an article on Martin Armstrong on March 27, 2007, titled "The strange case of the jailed market genius". In that article they highlighted the model had predicted a major top in financial markets for February 27, 2007, with the next major bottom being June 18, 2011.

On October 12, 2009, the magazine The New Yorker published an extensive article on Martin Armstrong, titled "THE SECRET CYCLE - Is the financier Martin Armstrong a con man, a crank, or a genius?" [8]

Criminal conviction

He was indicted on September 29, 1999 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York [9] for alleged fraud involving Japanese investors. After spending 7.5 years in federal prison for contempt of court without a trial,[citation needed] he pleaded guilty on August 17, 2006 to one count of conspiracy.[10] On April 10, 2007, he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison.[11][5] He was released from prison on September 2, 2011.[12] Armstrong's theory of business cycles is called the Economic Confidence Model.

Family

Armstrong, who is divorced, has two children. His daughter, Victoria Armstrong, paid her father visits in prison on most Wednesdays, spending about one hour with him in a common room with other visitors and prisoners. [13] Martin Armstrong Jr. and Victoria Armstrong supported their father in what was, according to Martin Armstrong Jr., a "one sided legal battle". They asked the public for help and sent letters to the judges. According to Armstrong's daughter Victoria Armstrong, "It took nearly thirty years for my dad to develop this model and his refusing to turn over its source code to the government is a big reason why he has been held in jail for over seven years without a trial. His model was his life’s work and his passion that ultimately landed him in jail. Although it's great to hear people that have benefited from his insight, after seeing what has happened to him I wish he kept it to himself." [14]

Writing in prison

Armstrong published on May 22, 2009 a piece entitled "Is Democracy Dying? Leviathan, The Power Cleverly Hidden Behind Politicians" in which he uses the history to explain what he contends is a delusion of Democracy.[15]

The paper "Looking Behind the Curtain", Published by Armstrong on April 9, 2009, details purported events connecting Goldman Sachs to U.S. government manipulation of financial markets.

As of November 24, 2009 a dedicated site hosting over forty of his essays is available at martinarmstrong.org.[16]

References

  1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Confidence_Model
  2. ^ Docket entry Sept. 29, 1999, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  3. ^ Docket entry Aug. 17, 2006, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  4. ^ Docket entry 150, April 10, 2007, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  5. ^ a b "Jailed 7 Years for Contempt, Adviser Is Headed for Prison". The New York Times. 2007-04-28.
  6. ^ http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=12518-050&x=68&y=9
  7. ^ PrincetonEconomics: Economic Confidence Model
  8. ^ http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/12/091012fa_fact_paumgarten
  9. ^ Docket entry Sept. 29, 1999, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  10. ^ Docket entry Aug. 17, 2006, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  11. ^ Docket entry 150, April 10, 2007, case no. 1:99-cr-00997-JFK-1, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  12. ^ http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=12518-050&x=68&y=9
  13. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/business/16jail.html?_r=3oref=slogin&
  14. ^ http://www.gold-speculator.com/martin-armstrongs-economic-pi-cycle/5635-request-martin-armstrong-jr-help-martin-armstrong-sr.html
  15. ^ "*Is Democracy Dying? The REAL Leviathan 5-22-09". Scribd.com. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  16. ^ "UNOFFICIAL SITE - Economic Essays, Currency Trading, Global Economic Analysis, Princeton Economics, Kondratieff Wave, Kwaves, Prison, Business Cycles, Currency Trading, Gold and Silver Investing". Martin Armstrong. Retrieved 2010-07-26.

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