U.S. charges Platinum Partners executives with $1 billion fraud

By Nate Raymond and Lawrence Delevingne NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top executives of New York-based hedge fund manager Platinum Partners were arrested on Monday and charged with running an approximately $1 billion fraud that federal prosecutors said became "like a Ponzi scheme" as its largest investments lost much of their value. Platinum, led by Mark Nordlicht, for years was known for producing exceptionally high and consistent returns by taking an usually aggressive approach to investing and fund ma