Banker found guilty of securities fraud in US
A former broker of the Credit Suisse Group has been convicted of fraudulently selling millions of dollars in subprime securities to corporate clients in the United States.
A jury in Brooklyn, New York, found the 37-year-old guilty of securities fraud and two charges of conspiracy that allowed him to generate higher commissions.
Losses for the clients totalled around $1 billion (SFr1.08 billion).
A co-defendant, who was returned to New York from Spain after fleeing prosecution, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud.
He testified as a prosecution witness during the three-week trial of his former partner, who now faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The district judge in the case said he probably would not impose the term sought by prosecutors when he sentences both men on October 27, saying they operated in a “culture of corruption”.
The two men were employed from November 2003 to September 2007 as managing directors in Credit Suisse’s private banking division.
The court heard that they misled clients into believing they were getting securities that were backed by federally guaranteed student loans. The products sold were actually linked to auction-rate securities, which failed.
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