Andrew Caspersen

Andrew W.W. Caspersen is an American financier and formerly a partner and managing director at PJT Partners Inc.'s Park Hill Group.

In March 2016, Caspersen was charged by federal prosecutors with securities fraud and wire fraud. The government alleged that Caspersen engaged in a $95 million fraud scheme, including over $20 million actually received, and the rest in solicited investments. In June 2016, the government filed additional charges, alleging a larger scheme in which Caspersen actually received $63 million, including money from family and friends. The government alleges that Caspersen lost $108 million in stock or options trading between February 11 and March 9, 2016.

On July 6, 2016 Caspersen pleaded guilty to fraud involving $38 million, one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud, as part of a plea agreement. Caspersen agreed with prosecutors to a sentence of 12 to 16 years in prison, but Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who has been a critic of Federal sentencing guidelines, departed downward from the plea agreement and sentenced Caspersen to only four years in prison. Caspersen was Federal inmate #75827-054 and was held in USP Lewisburg in Pennsylvania; he was released on 26 June 2019.

Caspersen was 39 years old when he was sentenced in 2016. The elder Caspersen was never charged with any crime, and the Internal Revenue Service completed its investigation in 2013 without imposing any penalties.

Andrew graduated from the Groton School in 1995, where he was a rower and captained the football team. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2002.

Career Caspersen spent the first nine years of his career at Coller Capital. He joined the Park Hill Group in 2013.

Federal criminal prosecution and parallel SEC civil action On March 26, 2016, as Caspersen was returning with his family from a Florida vacation, Prosecutors allege that Caspersen used the other $8.1 million to cover-up "an earlier unauthorized wire transfer of the same amount" that Caspersen had previously diverted for his own use.

A parallel civil action was also filed by the SEC. A statement from the foundation said that they "detected irregularities in a proposed follow-on deal" and "swiftly notified PJT Partners' general counsel's office and cooperated with PJT in their investigation of the issue." Other victims may include Caspersen's mother and two brothers.

On June 14, 2016, the government filed additional charges, alleging a larger scheme. The government alleges that Caspersen actually received $63 million, including money from family and friends, and lost $108 million in stock or options trading between February 11 and March 9, 2016. Caspersen pleaded not guilty to the new charges in a court appearance, but his lawyer said in court that his client is expected to plead guilty in July 2016.

In July 2017, the Moore Charitable Foundation sued Paul J. Taubman's investment bank for fraud, claiming PJT Partners “bears responsibility for the foundation’s enormous loss” of $16 million stemming from the fraudulent actions of their employee Caspersen.

Guilty plea On July 7, 2016, pursuant to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Caspersen pleaded guilty to one charge of security fraud and one charge of wire fraud.

Personal life Caspersen is married to his wife Christina, a fellow Princeton graduate who is an investor relations representative for Anheuser-Busch InBev. The couple lived in Bronxville, New York, in a home purchased in 2015, but sold the home in 2016. Caspersen has a home in New York City. He and his wife also own a co-op apartment in Manhattan.