Former hedge fund manager Albert Hsu was released to a rehabilitation program yesterday after serving two months in jail for recruiting strangers to kidnap and rape his former mistress, wire reports said.Albert Hsu, founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Anchor Point Capital, checked into a Brewster, N.Y., facility after a judge reduced his $1 million bond to $400,000 – small potatoes to the founder of the $95 million hedge fund, Anchor Point Capital. Hsu is scheduled to appear back in Stamford’s state Superior Court on June 18.
The story behind Hsu’s imprisonment and subsequent therapy is as sordid as any made-for-television shockumentary; According to the police affidavit, Hsu, a former Cub Scout leader and married man with two children, met his former mistress sometime in 2002 at the Talmadge Hill train station in New Canaan, Conn. The victim broke off the relationship in 2005, but Hsu repeatedly harassed her, sending her e-mails and leaving notes on her car windshield. As a result, the victim complained to the police twice, leading officers to order Hsu from seeing or otherwise bothering her.
You’d think that’d be enough to give anybody a clue not to bother the woman anymore. However, Hsu allegedly claimed to be his former mistress on the bondage Web site collarmen.com, where he posted an ad detailing “her fantasy” of being kidnapped and raped – and included the woman’s license plate number, type of car, style of clothing and where she preferred to stand on the Talmadge Hill train platform, the warrant said.
“I want a real-life abduction and rape scene,” the Web advertisement read, according to the arrest warrant. “Only those who can deliver on my extreme desires need apply.”
A New Jersey man responded to the ad and called the woman on the phone to make sure she was interested, police said. The former mistress was terrified by the information and informed the police late in February. Police traced the account to Hsu’s home computer and arrested him on March 2. He was charged with first-degree attempted sexual assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, two counts of second-degree harassment and trafficking in personal identifying information.
Hsu has been at Bridgeport Correctional Center and has been receiving treatment for bipolar disorder there, assistant State’s Attorney Paul Ferencek said yesterday. Although Ferencek told the court that his doctors have found no signs of mania or depression; Hsu’s attorney, Robert Bello, told the court that Hsu would likely improve with treatment at the SLS Health Group in Brewster.
He will continue therapy afterward, Bello added.
Judge Robert Devlin agreed, saying the setup was “superior” to Hsu paying the $1 million with no guarantee he will seek treatment.
Hsu also is barred from entering New Canaan and using the Internet for anything but work, and must surrender his passport, Devlin ruled.
Devlin warned Hsu against violating the conditions of his release, threatening him with the full price of the bond.
“One false step, and they’ll be back here asking me to increase your bond back to $1 million,” Devlin told Hsu. “And I’m gonna grant it.”