A former Credit Suisse investment banker accused of leaking inside information about a string of mergers will go to trial again in January, a US judge ruled on Wednesday.
US District Judge Richard Berman had declared a mistrial on Tuesday in the case against Hafiz Naseem, 37, after finding that two jurors had failed to follow instructions. He set January 14 as the new trial date.
Naseem's lawyer, Michael Bachner, told the judge during a hearing in Manhattan federal court that he was looking into whether there was a "potential double jeopardy issue," which forbids a defendant from being tried twice for the same crime.
Naseem, a Pakistani national who worked for Credit Suisse's Global Energy Group in New York, is accused of leaking inside tips about a string of pending merger deals to a co-defendant, Ajaz Rahim, who has an arrest warrant pending against him.
Rahim is a former head of the investment banking group at Faysal Bank in Pakistan. Naseem has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of conspiracy and securities fraud. Naseem, who joined Credit Suisse in 2006, was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in May.
Prosecutors contend that from April 2006 to February 2007, he provided inside tips about pending deals, including the $32 billion private equity buyout of Texas power company TXU Corp, to Rahim. The alleged scheme generated profits of more than $7.5 million, according to prosecutors. If convicted, Naseem could face at least 25 years in prison and deportation. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
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