NEWARK, N.J. – An investment manager with an office in Short Hills, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for that he fraudulently inducing investments, concealing investment losses, and diverting more than $675,000 in investor money for his own use, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Mark Moskowitz, 48, of Short Hills, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

In a separate legal proceeding, the N.J. Bureau of Securities ordered Moskowitz and his trading company, Edge Trading LLC, to pay a $1 million civil penalty for selling unregistered fraudulent securities and misusing investors’ funds for personal expenses.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Moskowitz controlled an investment fund under the names Edge Trading Partners L.P. and Edge Trading LLC (Edge Trading). In addition to touting his investment skill and experience, Moskowitz concealed losses from investors and falsely told them that Edge Trading was growing year after year. Based on these misrepresentations, investors continued to entrust additional funds to Moskowitz and left previous investments under his control.

Edge Trading was an investment fund that Moskowitz created and operated, starting in or around 2012. Moskowitz told investors that Edge Trading was invested in U.S. and foreign equities, futures contracts, and option contracts and that the fund’s investments continued to show positive returns. In reality, Moskowitz redirected investor money to his personal use, which he concealed from the investors.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Moskowitz to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution and forfeiture of $694,577.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the N.J. Bureau of Securities in the State Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and Acting Bureau Chief Amy Kopleton, for its assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: David Holman Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defenders, Newark