The swindle landed Bloom in newspaper headlines - where he earned the Whiz Kid moniker - and inside a federal courthouse.īloom pleaded guilty to mail and securities fraud in 1987.
He bought million-dollar paintings, a Manhattan condo, a Long Island beach house and an Aston Martin. But he still pulled in more than $15 million from roughly 140 clients.īloom only invested in himself, using his clients’ funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle. He mostly targeted marks in their 50s and 60s - including his parents’ wealthy associates - claiming his investment clientele included Bill Cosby and members of the Rockefeller family, according to published reports. While at Duke, he launched an investment group that allegedly paid off small profits.īloom set his sights higher when he returned to New York. Thank you for your support.Įxplore more Subscriber Exclusive content.īorn on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Bloom vacationed in the Hamptons and attended an exclusive prep school before studying art history at Duke University, according to a New York Times article. Times subscribers special access to our best journalism. Subscribers get exclusive access to this story His only background in finance stemmed from the fact that he’d grown up rich. When David Bloom launched the Greater Sutton Investors Group in the 1980s, he was not a registered financial advisor. It was unclear if he has retained an attorney. dive bars, leaving people in ruin along the way.īloom did not respond to requests for comment. In the late 1980s, he earned the nickname “Wall Street Whiz Kid” after bilking more than 100 people - including his grandmother - out of a combined $15 million in an investment plot that drew the attention of the federal government.Īccording to court records, police and interviews with his associates and alleged victims, Bloom has spent the last three decades scamming his way from high-society Manhattan to L.A. Unbeknownst to those who had brushes with Bloom in recent years, the man making promises he couldn’t keep across Hollywood had sung this song before. he approached me with it and talked it through and even though I didn’t fully comprehend it, it seemed like a good investment opportunity,” said one person who gave Bloom at least $10,000.
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But the only person who profited was Bloom, who didn’t own any of the stocks he was selling, Lopez said.īloom’s victims - many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of impacts on their professional lives - said they were seduced by his confidence, projections of wealth and near encyclopedic knowledge of financial power players. Al Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division. Twelve of them handed Bloom more than $190,000 combined, according to Capt.
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