WASHINGTON — Peter Ghavami, a former managing director and co-head of municipal bond reinvestment at UBS, was arrested Wednesday night by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as he was entering the country. He was arraigned Thursday on one count of wire fraud in connection with a massive ongoing antitrust probe of the municipal bond market, the Justice Department announced late Thursday.
A Belgium national currently residing in Moscow, Ghavami was brought into custody after arriving on an international flight that landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the department said in a press release. He was originally charged in a sealed complaint filed Sept. 16 that was unsealed Thursday
Ghavami also went by an alias Peter Ghavamilahidja, according to the Justice Department. He is the seventh individual to face criminal charges as part of the ongoing Justice Department inquiry into anticompetitive behavior in the muni derivatives and guaranteed investment contract markets.
As part of the probe, a federal grand jury has indicted CDR Financial Products, three current and former officials at the Beverly Hills-based firm, and three former financial services executives.
“Pernicious fraud schemes like the one alleged in this complaint undermine the public’s confidence and trust in the municipal bond and derivatives markets,” said Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division. “This type of anticompetitive conduct will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
In all likelihood the guilt plea by Mark Zaino, a former colleague of Ghavami, provided evidence that led to yesterdays arrest.
0 comments:
Post a Comment