Fraudster Arthur Nadel dies in US prison

Arthur Nadel died at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina (Getty Images)

A hedge fund manager sentenced to 14 years in prison after cheating investors of $168m has died.

Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said that Arthur Nadel died at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. He was 80.

Nadel pleaded guilty in 2010 to securities fraud and was sentenced by a federal judge in New York.

Prosecutors said 390 clients had invested nearly $400m with him. Nadel went on a two-week, cross-country trip before he surrendered.

At his lawyer's request, Nadel was sent to the same prison where Bernard Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for cheating thousands of investors out of billions of dollars. Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 2009.