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US prosecutors charged a former Pakistani banker with securities fraud on Tuesday, saying he made nearly US$8 million in illegal profits after getting insider information on pending merger deals from a former Credit Suisse investment banker.
Ajaz Rahim, 44, who was country head of investment banking at Faysal Bank in Karachi, faces one conspiracy charge and 25 counts of securities fraud, according to the federal complaint.
Hafiz Naseem, who worked for Credit Suisse's Global Energy Group in New York, has been charged with one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of securities fraud.
From April 2006 through about February 2007, Rahim received nonpublic information from Naseem about nine Credit Suisse client merger deals and bought securities, netting over US$7.5 million ($10.45 million) in illegal profits, the government charged.
"A warrant has been issued for his arrest and we're going to seek to execute the warrant," a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's office said of Rahim. She would not say whether the warrant was issued in the United States or Pakistan.
- REUTERS
