Four in hedge fund sting convicted in Central Islip

The four were rapidly convicted yesterday in federal court in Central Islip, after walking into a federal sting operation in which they thought they were about to collect $3 billion from a Long Island hedge fund. The money was to be used to construct what they said was a pipeline through the Russian Republic of Buryatia, prosecutors said.

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The four had said that for collateral for the $3 billion, they had $10 billion in U.S. treasury instruments that had been loaned to Buryatia by the U.S. government, according to prosecutors. They said they needed the hedge fund money to help complete an oil pipeline through Buryatia, according to court papers.