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Bank fugitive nabbed in $1 billion scheme

A former Credit Suisse trader facing charges in a $1 billion (SFr930 million) fraud scheme was arrested in Spain on Wednesday after eluding police for two months.

Bulgarian national Julian T., 36, was charged last autumn with fraudulently selling auction-rate securities backed by risky subprime mortgages to Credit Suisse clients between November 2004 and September 2007.

He and another former Credit Suisse trader, Eric B., 37, were charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.

The trial was set to begin on July 20 at a US District Court in New York City, but Julian T., who had been out of jail on a $3 million bond but under house arrest, fled on May 9. It is unclear whether extradition procedures will allow the trial to go ahead as scheduled.

A new indictment came against the two men this week that charges the former managers of Credit Suisse’s Corporate Cash Management Group with 14 counts of wire fraud. The two allegedly sent emails to unidentified companies in Switzerland, Canada, Britain, Bermuda and Panama to further the scheme, prosecutors said.

The clients who bought the products lost their money after the traders allegedly used the funds to secretly buy riskier investments. The two face up to 33 years in prison and $5 million in fines if convicted.

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