By IANS
New York : A former Credit Suisse banker of Pakistani origin has been convicted here of leaking confidential information about major deals, including the $45 billion buyout of TXU power giant in Texas, as part of a $7.5 billion insider trading scheme.
The federal district court in Manhattan Monday found Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem, 37, guilty of one count of conspiracy and 28 counts of insider trading for relaying insider information to Ajaz Rahim, a high-level banker in Pakistan and his one time boss.
Rahim is the former head of investment banking at Faysal Bank in Karachi and one of the most successful traders in Pakistan. He too faces charges but remains in Pakistan while Naseem bore the brunt of the government’s case.
Naseem came to the US in 2002 to earn a business degree in New York. He worked briefly at J.P. Morgan Chase before moving to Credit Suisse’s energy group in March 2006.
Prosecutors argued that Naseem used his position at the bank almost immediately to feed information about deals to Rahim, who traded on the tips before the mergers were announced.
Towards the end of 2006, regulators at the New York Stock Exchange tracked suspicious trading in nine deals, including the TXU buyout, and found Credit Suisse was an adviser in all nine deals.
Naseem faces 25 years in prison, but is likely to get a lesser term when he is sentenced in April.
His lawyers said he would appeal against the verdict, The New York Times reported.