NEW YORK, Nov 27: Hafiz Mohammad Zubair Naseem, a Pakistani investment banker accused of insider trading along with a compatriot, would not face additional charges, his lawyer told Dawn on Tuesday.
On Monday, the prosecutors had informed Michael Bachner, the lawyer, that they might argue Hafiz Naseem, formerly of the Credit Suisse, had a gambling problem that drove him to engage in an alleged scheme to tip off Aijaz Rahim, one-time country head of investment banking at Faysal Bank, about coming mergers.
But Mr Bachner told Dawn that the US attorney’s office informed him it “would not be introducing any additional information which could implicate Hafiz Naseem on his motives for insider trading”.
A spokesperson at the US attorney’s office told Dawn that the prosecutors intended to arrest Mr Aijaz Rahim and file charges against him. In reply to a question whether the attorney’s office had approached Pakistani authorities to seek the extradition of Mr Rahim, the spokesperson refused to divulge any information referring to the complaint.
Mr Bachner maintained: “Our position is that Hafiz Naseem is innocent of all these charges.
“Mr Rahim traded in these stocks on the basis of public knowledge, and not on the basis of any insider information provided to him by Mr Naseem.
“They’re just hunting everywhere for a financial motive.”
Hafiz Naseem is expected to go on trial on conspiracy and insider trading charges in Manhattan on Dec 10 in the court of District Judge Richard M. Berman.
At Monday’s hearing, Mr Naseem pleaded not guilty to all charges of insider trading.
Prosecutors have alleged that Aijaz Rahim was tipped off by Mr Naseem about proposed acquisitions in which Credit Suisse was acting as an adviser.
The acquisitions, made between April of last year and February of this year, featured nine publicly traded companies.
Mr Rahim, who also has been charged in the matter, is based in Pakistan these days, but the prosecutors said that efforts would be made to “bring him to justice”.
