Diploma suit by Conn. hedge fund scammer dismissed

Date: Friday, September 4, 2009
Author: Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn. - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a man convicted of running a hedge fund scam in Connecticut who claimed New York University owed him a diploma.

Hakan Yalincak (yal-in-SACK'), an NYU undergraduate, was sentenced in 2007 to 3 1/2 years in prison for persuading investors to pour millions into a nonexistent Greenwich-based hedge fund.

His lawsuit against NYU seeks to have F's in biology and algebra raised to passing grades so he'll have enough credits to graduate.

Judge Peter Dorsey said he would not intrude on the discretion of educators except in extraordinary circumstances. He said Yalincak made a "far-fetched" claim that two of his professors or their assistants promised him they would award him a B and B-minus in their courses without requiring him to take a final exam.