Croatian economist Vuk Vuković, founder of the company Oraclum, has been arrested in the United States. A criminal complaint has been filed against him with charges of fraud, including securities and electronic communications fraud. The authorities have brought charges against him on multiple counts, with a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for each of the aforementioned offences.
According to available information, investigators determined that the documents submitted by Oraclum to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) contained inaccurate information. In those documents, a return of 12.27 per cent was reported for one investor, while the independent administrator for the same period (the first six months of 2024) showed a minus 1.38 per cent. Investigators found that in each of the 20 Oraclum reports for 2023, the reported return was higher than that in the corresponding administrator's report, sometimes by more than 10 percentage points.
Two investors stated that they received monthly reports from the fund, which matched those produced by Oraclum, rather than those produced by the independent administrator. Vuković explained the differences in the data by stating that Oraclum had a separate brokerage account, but it is true that the administrator had access until recently. The FBI agent reviewed part of the report from that account, but neither did they explain the differences between the data presented by Oraclum and that of the administrator.
All allegations in the complaint are charges, and Vuk Vuković is considered innocent until proven guilty. The law stipulates that any accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty. In the event of a conviction, the court will determine the final sentence, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.
