A fake New York City hedge fund manager is being held on $1 million cash bail after allegedly stealing as much $850,000 from investors, going as far as to claim he had died of a heart attack to avoid returning any of their money to them.

Moazzam "Mark" Malik alleged victims include at least 16 investors and date as far back as 2011, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint released Friday. A former New York City police department traffic agent, Malik has also been charged by NYC Attorney General Eric Schneiderman with stealing as much as $250,000 from five investors under his jurisdiction.

USA Today reports Malik used such manipulative tactics as lying to a national news outlet to attract clients. In March of 2011, a Bloomberg report identified him as a rising fund manager based on data he provided claiming he had a 92.73 percent return investment. In one particular instance, Malik alleged his American Bridge Investment Group had $100 million in assets under management with offices at 40 Wall Street in downtown Manhattan.

Around two years later, well-known hedge fund tracker Barclay Hedge awarded Malik a "gold star" for his fund based on some of the same claims and numbers he boasted of in the media.

Malik allegedly raised nearly $1 million through American Bridge, but never had more than $90,177 in assets in the fund's account. SEC officials argue Malik had a "lavish lifestyle" that included classes at Harvard, jewelry, travel and matchmaking services.

Several media outlets report besides once claiming to have died of a heart attack, Malik allegedly tried to dissuade investors from seeking their money back by sending out an e-mail in February 2014 that contained a video of a werewolf movie along with Malik's comment, "that's what I think I am."

To date, Malik has reportedly returned a total of $83,240 to investors and has continued to raise money.

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