K1 Hedge Fund Founder Kiener Indicted in $311 Million Fraud

K1 Group founder Helmut Kiener, who was convicted in Germany of defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme, was indicted by the U.S. for his role in a $311 million fraud, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia said.

Kiener, a German national, was charged today with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and three counts of money laundering based on allegations that he devised a scheme to defraud Bear Stearns Cos. using hedge funds in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Kiener’s partner John Tausche, 61, of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering.