Venture capitalist flees U.S. after fraud charges

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquarters building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. The U.S. government began its first partial shutdown in 17 years, idling as many as 800,000 federal employees, closing national parks and halting some services after Congress failed to break a partisan deadlock by a midnight deadline. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Federal authorities believe that venture capitalist Ifty Ahmed has fled the United States rather than stand trial for insider trading and fraud, according to new court documents. He also is accused of having attempted to “access certain of his assets” in violation of a partial asset freeze, causing the court to order a more expansive asset freeze that includes six real estate holdings.

Ahmed had been a general partner with Oak Investment Partners until April, when he was arrested for insider trading that was unrelated to his work with Oak. He was subsequently charged with fraud and self-dealing, related to deals that he had led on Oak’s behalf.

Oak originally put Ahmed on a leave of absence following the insider trading allegations, but later terminated him for cause after making internal discoveries that ultimately helped lead to the fraud charges.

It is unclear how Ahmed left the country, as court records suggest that authorities were in possession of both his U.S. and India-issued passports.

Prior to being placed on leave, Ahmed served on the boards of such Oak portfolio companies as Circle Financial, Kenet LLC, Wonga, and Nomorereack.com. His prior deals included Airespace (acquired by Cisco), GMarket (acquired by eBay) and Kayak (acquired by Priceline).

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Hughes confirmed to Fortune that Ahmed is believed to have left the country, but had no further information on the passports. SEC attorneys managing the case have not yet responded to requests for comment, nor has Ahmed’s attorney. An Oak spokeswoman also declined comment, beyond saying the firm has no “direct knowledge” of Ahmed’s whereabouts.

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