Ex-HSBC FX Trader Sentenced to 2 Years, Sent Directly to Prison

Former HSBC Holdings Plc trader Mark Johnson, the first person to be convicted in a global crackdown on currency rigging, was sentenced to two years in prison and immediately taken into custody.

Johnson bowed his head and his lawyers appeared stunned as U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, rejected his request to surrender at a later date. Johnson then handed his wallet to the lawyers and removed his tie before being escorted out of the courtroom by a deputy U.S. marshal. His lawyers asked that he be sent to the low-security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.

A federal jury found the bank’s former global head of foreign exchange guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and conspiracy for front-running a $3.5 billion client order in December 2011. He was convicted in October after a month-long trial.

Garaufis said U.S sentencing guidelines indicated Johnson could face a term of nine years in prison while prosecutors argued he deserved seven years. The judge said he imposed a shorter term, citing Johnson’s family ties, his community work and noted that, as a U.K. national, Johnson would be separated from his family. read more »

Malaysian PM claims there was no wrongdoing in 1MDB scandal

Najib Razak blames ‘problematic business model’ for loss of billions from government fund.

The Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, has insisted there was no wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal and instead blamed a “problematic business model” for the billions of dollars that went missing from a government investment fund.

Najib, who is seeking re-election in the Malaysian elections on 9 May, used a rare international interview to downplay the scandal and emphasise his own innocence – but conceded that “mistakes were made”.

1MDB became one of the biggest corruption cases in the world when it emerged in 2015 that at least $3.5bn had been stolen from the Najib-run fund. A US Department of Justice lawsuit alleged that the money fuelled a global spending spree by some of the prime minister’s associates, on property, jewellery, a Picasso, a Van Gogh, a yacht and the production of two Hollywood films. read more »

Hunters Point cleanup fraud: Accused contractor says we didn’t do it

Tetra Tech rejects findings that it faked toxic cleanup at major redevelopment site

Problems with Tetra Tech work first arose in 2012, when the Navy noticed aberrations with data regarding soil samples. Tetra Tech admitted limited wrongdoing in 2014, but blamed it on a few workers acting independently. The company was not fined, and was allowed to continue working after offering its employees retraining on ethics.

The Navy at first accepted that excuse and solution, but more—and more detailed—accusations from former Tetra Tech workers and contractors prompted the EPA to pause land transfers at the 450-acre shipyard in 2016 while the extent of the problem could be discovered.

In a subsequent review of Tetra Tech’s work prepared by the Navy by third-party contractors, first obtained and reported publicly by Curbed SF in January, nearly half of the company data had signs of outright falsification. A subsequent review of those findings by the Environmental Protection Agency found that nearly all of Tetra Tech’s data was questionable enough to require the work—roughly $300 million worth, according to the Navy—to be redone. read more »

The Labor Department Is Looking Into Wells Fargo's 401(k) Policies

The Labor Department is reportedly looking into whether Wells Fargo & Co. has been pushing customers who have low-cost corporate 401(k) plans to move their holdings instead into more expensive individual retirement accounts

The federal investigation is also looking into whether customers were encouraged to buy in-house funds in order to raise more money for the bank. The issue at play regards the Employee Retirement Income Security Act which requires the bankers that serve retirement accounts to put the interest of their client ahead of those of the bank.

People familiar with the matter told the Journal that the bank has workers retention goals associated with keeping retirement accounts in-house. Those individuals also allege that bankers would put clients’ money intentionally in shares that involve a high fee. read more »