A man has been accused in the US of fraudulently claiming to be running a hedge fund and of luring investors to give him more than $800,000.

US authorities have accused a man of fraudulently claiming to have been a hedge fund manager and conning investors into giving him more than $800,000 which in fact was diverted for his personal use.

Moazzam "Mark" Malik, from Lahore, Pakistan, was arrested and indicted on New York state charges including grand larceny and forgery, the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

Prosecutors accused Malik of stealing from investors between 2011 and 2015.

In a separate legal case, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the financial regulator, filed civil charges against Malik in US District Court in Manhattan, saying he raised $840,774 but never made real investments.

A report by Reuters said a lawyer for Malik did not respond to requests for comments.

Malik’s fund was most recently called Wolf Hedge and did not at any time hold more than $90,177 in assets, as he continually withdrew money, the SEC said. Investors ensared by Malik came from the US, Canada and Switzerland. At least 17 people were affected, Schneiderman's office said.

To date, the biggest hedge fund scam ever has been that of Bernard Madoff, who after pleading guilty to a mass of charges was sentenced to a total of 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed. Losses to investors are estimated to be as high as $18 billion. The affair, and associated scams that came to light amid the financial crisis, have prompted soul searching in the wealth management industry as to whether sufficient checks were made to root out criminals and protect investors.