|
|
Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:
Manuel Echeverria, 55, who ran Banco Santander SA’s Optimal Investment Services unit from Geneva, faced charges of mismanagement with intent to enrich at the courthouse in Geneva’s old town on Monday. He is the first European investment manager to reach court to face criminal charges for working with the convicted American fraudster, according to Bloomberg. Madoff is now serving a 150-year prison sentence for losing $17.5bn in investor money.
Making a Madoff-related criminal case stick in Europe is hard, apparently, mainly for lack of proof that money managers invested with knowledge of the fraud. The latest example is Aurelia. Five partners who used to work for wealth management company Aurélia Finance SA were to be tried in Geneva in October for their Madoff-related investments. But the trial never took place as the parties sought an out of court settlement.
According to Swiss daily Le Temps, Echeverria, who will not respond to the plaintiff or the prosecution (but only to his lawyers), will plead for his acquittal for the remaining lost capital. He said Optimal had done due diligence but the fraud was too sophisticated, so much so even the financial authoritites never saw anything. Even if the file for the lawsuit takes up hundreds of binders, after seven years of inquiry, the complaint at the Gene...................... To view our full article Click here
|
|
RSS
