NEW YORK (Reuters) - Florida fund manager Arthur Nadel, whose family reported him missing in early January, was arrested yesterday on criminal charges of securities fraud, US officials said.

New York FBI spokeswoman Monica McLean said Nadel — head of Scoop Management, overseeing six hedge funds he had valued at more than $300 million — would make an initial appearance in a federal court in Florida.

"Arthur Nadel surrendered in the company of two lawyers to FBI agents in Tampa," McLean said.

In a criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Manhattan, Nadel was charged with securities fraud and wire fraud related to his funds from around 2004 until at least January 14 this year.

The court document contains excerpts of a handwritten letter from Nadel, 76, to his wife. It says the letter was found by Scoop employees in an office shredding machine.

"The avenues to money for you will likely be blocked soon," the letter quoted in an affidavit by FBI agent Kevin Riordan said. "You must use the trust (yours) to your benefit as much and as soon as possible."

Nadel, head of Sarasota, Florida-based Scoop Management, was reported missing by his family a week ago. He left behind a suicide note that expressed guilt for losing clients' money and said someone might try to kill him.

The Nadel case broke about a month after the arrest and charge of New York investment manager Bernard Madoff, who authorities said confessed to running "a giant Ponzi scheme" over many years. Prosecutors have called the Ponzi scheme, one in which early investors are paid with money from new clients, the biggest in history.

Authorities have announced a rash of Ponzi-type schemes across the US following the sharp decline in the fortunes of the financial industry.

Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, in a civil complaint, charged Nadel with fraud, saying that the six hedge funds actually contained less than $1 million. Nadel's assets were frozen by court order.