KARACHI, May 25: The FBI team of United States has detained another banker in a case of insider trading committed by a Pakistani banker, in collaboration with another Pakistani employed at the Credit Suisse.
Fearful Pakistani bankers appeared to be under immense pressure as the FBI team has been screening computers and all data of prime suspect Aijaz Rahim, head of investment banking at a bank here.
A top banker said that the FBI had detained another banker in Karachi suspecting his involvement in the case of insider trading.
No banker was ready to utter a single word regarding the FBI visit and its focused areas in the banking sector.
Sources said a State Bank official assisted the team to get what they required. However, working of the FBI has been kept as ‘top secret.’
The sources did not disclose the name of the other banker detained by the FBI, saying his fate was yet to be cleared. He said he may or may not be involved in the business, but was detained because of having close links with Mr. Rahim.
Earlier, the prime suspect, Aijaz Rahim, who left Pakistan for Canada just a month earlier, was officially informed on Thursday that he would be indicted in connection with trades he made in advance of deal announcements by companies, including Texas utility TXU Corp.
He already faces Securities and Exchange Commission civil insider-trading charges that he made $7.5 million in profits after receiving phone calls from a junior-level banker at the Credit Suisse Group (CS), which was handling the deals. The junior banker, Hafiz Naseem, who has since lost his job, faces both criminal and civil charges.
The SEC alleges that Rahim received profits totalling $5.1 million from suspicious options before the announced takeover of the TXU alone.
According a report in a status hearing on Wednesday in Chicago, US District Court Judge George W. Lindberg extended a freeze on Rahim's assets, related to his profits from the TXU deal, through June 19. The SEC and Barasch agreed to the extension.
