Court Orders Payout of Over $27.5M for Wisconsin Securities Fraud
A federal district court in Madison, Wis., has entered final judgments ordering several investment managers and their related entities to pay more than $27.5 million in monetary relief following a jury verdict that found them liable for securities fraud.
The judgments, entered in October 2025 were levied against investment managers Michael G. Hull and Christopher J. Nohl, along with their related entities: Greenpoint Asset Management II LLC, or GAM II; Chrysalis Financial LLC; Bluepoint Investment Counsel LLC; Greenpoint Tactical Income Fund LLC; and Greenpoint Rare Earth Trading Account LLC.
The ruling stems from an August 2022 jury verdict and the SEC’s first amended complaint, which was filed in February 2020.
The 2019 complaint charged Hull, Nohl, and their related entities with securities fraud connected to their operation and promotion of the Greenpoint Tactical Income Fund. This private, Wisconsin-based investment fund allegedly claimed fraudulently inflated returns on its investments in an illiquid portfolio composed of gems, minerals, and private equity.
As written in the SEC’s complaint, from April 2014 to June 2019, the fund raised approximately $52.783 million from roughly 129 investors. During the period examined, the fund reported return allegedly driven by the improper inflation of asset values. As of June 30, 2018, the fund claimed a net asset value of $135 million, but 95% of these purported gains were unrealized and largely deemed fictitious.
Hull and Nohl improperly inflated the value of a defunct environmental remediation company named Amiran Technologies Inc. from over $4.2 million in 2015 to over $46 million by mid-2018, even as they knew Amiran’s primary subsidiary was in default on a line of credit.
Further, Nohl allegedly interfered in the appraisals of the gem and mineral collection to obtain higher values, including rejecting lower appraisals and purchasing minerals from an appraiser contemporaneously with that appraiser’s work for the fund. Hull and Nohl used the misleadingly high valuations to charge the fund excessive management and other fees, totaling approximately $13.71 million from 2014 through early 2019. They also engaged in undisclosed self-dealing, making short-term loans to the fund and charging interest exceeding 100% annual percentage rate in some cases.
The court ordered a substantial total monetary judgment that includes disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Hull, Nohl, GAM II, Chrysalis, and Bluepoint were ordered to be jointly and severally liable for disgorgement of $12,560,647 and $3,537,378 in prejudgment interest. Hull and Nohl were ordered to pay $5 million each in civil penalties. GAM II, Chrysalis, and Bluepoint were ordered to pay $500,000 each in civil penalties.
In addition to the financial penalties, the court ordered permanent injunctive relief against Hull, Nohl, GAM II, and Chrysalis.
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