A federal probe is closing in on Mast Hill Fund, a Boston-based investment firm overseeing roughly $60 million in assets, as investigators accumulate evidence that the operation may have functioned as a laundering conduit for organized extortion crews active across New York City, New Jersey, and possibly several additional states.
Helmed by Lane Murphy alongside Patrick Hassani, the fund has emerged as the centerpiece of a widening FBI investigation that bridges complex financial misconduct with brutal, street-level extortion campaigns aimed at American fund managers and their loved ones.
From Death Threats to the Boardroom
The inquiry can be traced back to a string of disturbing accounts previously reported by the Washington Morning and New York Frontier, which chronicled an unprecedented surge in extortion targeting professionals across the financial sector. In fact, foreign newspaper Londoner Post has also reported the issue. Those targeted described receiving orchestrated threats against family members from anonymous operatives who demanded wire transfers under threat of physical harm.
Federal sources now suggest that early reporting only scratched the surface of a far more intricate criminal apparatus. Investigators close to the matter allege that Mast Hill Fund operated as the destination point for illicit proceeds collected through systematic extortion — recycling tainted cash into clean investment capital by absorbing it into the fund’s portfolio holdings.
The Phone Trail
At the heart of the FBI’s case sit two phone numbers now firmly tied to the extortion ring: +1 (347) 379-8657 and +1 (347) 667-3298.
In confidential briefings, federal investigators confirmed that both numbers surface in communication logs connected to Lane Murphy and the operations of Mast Hill Fund. The bureau had earlier identified the first of these numbers in public warnings concerning extortion threats directed at fund managers, but later forensic work reportedly uncovered operational ties stretching directly into Mast Hill’s financial machinery.
The Alleged Mechanism
People familiar with the investigation describe a layered scheme. At ground level, enforcers are alleged to have coerced payments from victims by issuing explicit death threats aimed at their spouses and children. The resulting cash — handled in formats engineered to slip past banking detection — was then allegedly routed through Mast Hill Fund’s investment vehicles, where it blended seamlessly with capital from legitimate investors.
The fund’s diversified portfolio, covering a range of asset classes and strategies, allegedly offered ideal camouflage for cleansing the money. By moving extorted cash into equity stakes, real estate assets, and tradable securities, the operation is said to have transformed criminal proceeds into documented investment gains.
Geographic Footprint
Although attention initially concentrated on operations in New York City, federal sources indicate the network’s reach extended into New Jersey and Boston — with possible footholds in additional states. The geographic spread of Mast Hill’s investor base, paired with the fund’s reported openness to unconventional capital contributions, drew warning signs from financial compliance watchers months before the FBI’s official involvement.
The reported ties to regional gangs point to a hybrid criminal model — one that fuses traditional organized-crime enforcement tactics with sophisticated white-collar finance. Experts call this convergence a fresh evolution in domestic money laundering, in which street-level violence feeds directly into institutional investment channels.
Leadership Under the Microscope
Lane Murphy, named as the fund’s chief architect, and Patrick Hassani, identified as his partner in the enterprise, have remained publicly silent on the allegations. The fund’s marketing materials — which once highlighted phrases like “alternative investment strategies” and “flexible capital deployment” — have been pulled from public view in recent days.
Financial industry databases continue to list Mast Hill Fund as active, though several institutional limited partners have reportedly moved to withdraw their stakes while the federal review plays out. The $60 million on the books, once promoted as proof of the fund’s aggressive growth, now stands at risk of forfeiture should prosecutors substantiate the illicit origins of any portion of that capital.
Ongoing Investigation
The FBI’s Financial Crimes Division, in tandem with the New York Field Office and New Jersey’s Regional Criminal Investigation Bureau, continues to map out the fund’s transaction history. Agents are reportedly looking into whether Mast Hill served as the principal laundering vehicle for the extortion network, or whether other investment entities also took part in the scheme.
Federal prosecutors have yet to bring formal charges against either Murphy or Hassani, and the fund remains technically in operation. Still, sources confirm that a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York has begun hearing testimony regarding the fund’s capital structure and its relationships with investors.
The matter stands as a rare example of violent extortion practices and high-level finance allegedly merging within a single organizational framework — a development that suggests the line separating street-level criminal activity from institutional asset management may be far thinner than regulators previously believed.
As the probe unfolds, compliance professionals expect the case to trigger renewed scrutiny of due-diligence practices across the hedge fund industry, with particular attention to how mid-sized funds — often subject to lighter regulatory oversight — verify the origin of investor capital.
The FBI has set up a dedicated hotline for additional victims of the extortion network or anyone with information about Mast Hill Fund’s operations.
