Filed under: Criminal charges

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FBI charges 4 in insider trading crackdown

Three employees at public companies and an executive of an expert-networking firm on Thursday became the latest to be charged in a wide-ranging Wall Street insider trading probe.

James Fleishman, 41, of Santa Clara, Calif., the networking executive, was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy for providing confidential information to the firm’s clients, including hedge funds, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. Get the full story »

WikiLeaks’ Assange granted bail in Britain

A British judge granted bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Tuesday, saying he must abide by strict conditions as he fights extradition to Sweden in a sex-crimes investigation.

The 39-year-old Australian has been in a London prison for a week after surrendering to Scotland Yard due to a Swedish arrest warrant. Get the full story »

Feds charge more than 500 in Ponzis, frauds

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announces the results of "Operation Broken Trust." (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

U.S. officials said Monday they have charged more than 500 people in what they dubbed the largest-ever nationwide sweep of scam artists preying on individual investors.

The announcement comes as federal agencies and the Obama administration are facing pressure to punish big-name companies and individuals for their role in the financial mess. So far, the U.S. has won few high-profile cases, compared with the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis and the dot-com bust. Get the full story »

Research firm exec arrested in insider trading probe

An executive of a California research firm was arrested Wednesday on securities fraud and conspiracy charges after U.S. prosecutors accused him of arranging for inside information to be leaked to hedge funds, the latest development in an investigation of the industry.

The arrest of Don Ching Trang Chu of Primary Global Research stems from wiretaps and the cooperation of Richard Choo-Beng Lee, a hedge fund manager who pleaded guilty last year as part of the insider-trading prosecution of Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and 22 other traders, lawyers and executives. Get the full story »

U.S. charges networking exec in hedge fund probe

An executive of a hedge fund networking firm was arrested Wednesday on charges related to insider trading, part of a broad investigation of hedge funds by U.S. prosecutors.

A criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in New York said Don Ching Trang Chu, also known as Don Chu, promoted the services of his California-based firm, Primary Global Research, by arranging for inside information to be leaked to hedge funds. Get the full story »

WikiLeaks founder wants detention order vacated

WikiLeaks founder and chief editor Julian Assange plans to ask Sweden’s highest court to overturn a lower court decision ordering him detained for questioning, his lawyer said Wednesday. Get the full story »

UBS sued for $2B for role in Madoff scam

The trustee seeking to recover money for defrauded Bernard Madoff investors has sued UBS AG and others for more than $2 billion, accusing them of collaborating in the imprisoned swindler’s massive Ponzi scheme.

UBS was accused of assisting Madoff’s fraud by sponsoring foreign feeder funds that sent client money to the once-respected money manager, lending them “an aura of legitimacy” while shielding itself from liability through secret side agreements. Get the full story »

Citadel, others subpoenaed in insider trading probe

Federal authorities, intensifying an insider-trading investigation, are demanding trading and other information from some of the nation’s most powerful investment firms.

Hedge-fund giants SAC Capital Advisors and Citadel Asset Management, big mutual-fund company Janus Capital Group Inc. and Wellington Management Co., one of the nation’s biggest institutional-investment firms, have received subpoenas from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office seeking trading, communications and other data as part of a broad criminal investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. Get the full story »

Malaysian man hacks Federal Reserve computes

A Malaysian man was charged on Thursday for hacking into the computer network of a U.S. Federal Reserve bank and for stealing more than 400,000 stolen credit card and debit card numbers, according to federal authorities.

Lin Mun Poo, 32, is suspected of accessing financial records at a Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, by “exploiting a vulnerability he found within their secure system,“ according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York. At least 10 Federal Reserve Bank computers were affected by the breach, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage, the statement said. Get the full story »

State sues credit-rescue firms for ‘preying on Poles’

The Illinois Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Illinois Loan Modification LLC, Omega Business Center, its managers and related businesses, alleging that they preyed on residents of the Chicago-area’s Polish community by falsely promising mortgage and credit card relief.

The suit, filed Tuesday  in Cook County Circuit Court, charged that the companies and their affiliates charged upfront fees to consumers but the promised services were never provided and customers who canceled their contracts were not issued refunds. Get the full story »

Former Glaxo lawyer charged with obstruction

A former lawyer for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc has been indicted on charges of lying and obstructing an investigation into the company’s promotion of an anti-depressant drug, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

The lawyer, Lauren Stevens, was indicted on four counts of making false statements, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of falsifying and concealing documents related to Glaxo’s promotion of the drug for weight loss, which had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Get the full story »

Doctor charged with insider trading on drug info

U.S. investigators filed criminal and civil fraud charges against a French doctor they say leaked negative inside information about a Human Genome Sciences Inc. hepatitis drug trial, enabling six hedge funds to avoid $30 million of losses.

Yves Benhamou was accused by the  Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission of tipping a portfolio manager about Human Genome’s experimental hepatitis C treatment Albuferon in late 2007 and early 2008. Get the full story »

With ‘honest services’ out, Skilling seeks new trial

The former CEO of disgraced energy giant Enron asked a federal appeals court  Monday to grant him a new trial based on a Supreme Court ruling his attorney said puts his conviction for conspiracy and securities fraud in question.

Daniel Petrocelli, attorney for Jeffrey Skilling, presented his argument to a three-judge panel scheduled by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that an anti-fraud law was improperly used to help convict Skilling in 2006 for his role in Enron’s calamitous downfall demanded a new trial, Petrocelli said. The jury received bad instructions, he said, that could have tainted their decision. Get the full story »

Black’s freedom next question with 2 convictions upheld

Conrad Black, the wealthy Canadian who was chairman of a Chicago-based newspaper empire, may be headed back to prison after two of his crimes were upheld on appeal.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago reviewed Black’s 2007 fraud conviction for a second time, after the  Supreme Court called it into question in June. In a unanimous ruling Friday, the appellate court affirmed Black’s guilty verdicts on one count of defrauding Hollinger International Inc. and obstruction of justice but vacated two of his fraud convictions. Get the full story »

U.S. wants courtroom sealed for Goldman trial

U.S. prosecutors asked a federal judge to seal the courtroom for part of the upcoming criminal trial of a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. computer programmer, an effort to protect the secrecy of the bank’s high-frequency trading platform.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that there is a “compelling interest in favor of privacy” for Goldman in the trial of the former employee, Sergey Aleynikov. Get the full story »