Pumping up Returns

Ferona, an avid weightlifter, was approaching his Austin-area gym just after 4 p.m. in mid-December when several federal agents surprised him, said Rene VonderHaar, an FBI spokeswoman.

Ferona pumped up his investment returns, making bogus claims his Global Prosperity Fund had recorded annual gains of more than 40 percent over a five-year span, court documents show. During a few of those years - 2000 to 2002 - most investors sustained big losses.

The fund manager used the motto “growing wealth through double-digit profits, always!!” and touted a hedge fund on a roadside billboard in Franktown, according to the documents.