Kuwait financier facing U.S. fraud suit found dead

[UpInArms]

Source: Forbes

KUWAIT, July 26 (Reuters) - A brash Kuwaiti financier facing a fraud suit by U.S. authorities was found dead on Sunday in an apparent suicide that sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector.

A security source told Reuters that Hazem Al-Braikan appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the side of the head, while a policeman standing outside Braikan's house said the well-connected financier, 37, had shot himself.

Braikan was the CEO of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup Inc ( C - news - people ), and had been at the centre of a financial scandal that erupted last week.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against him and two other finance firms last week, saying they had improperly earned millions of dollars from trades in two U.S. firms, Harman International Industries Inc ( HAR - news - people ) and Textron Inc. ( TXT - news - people ) .

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/reuters/2009/07/26/2009-07-26T134127Z_01_LQ671358_RTRIDST_0_HARMAN-BRAIKAN-CONFIRMATION-UPDATE-2.html

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Bizarre -

I posted the fraud suit information in the SMW on Friday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3984100&mesg_id=3984190

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE56M4VA20090723?sp=true

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Securities regulators on Thursday sued a well-connected Kuwaiti financier whose investment firm is partly owned by Citigroup Inc, saying he reaped millions in suspicious profits after "fraudulent" takeover reports sent shares of two U.S. companies soaring.

The civil lawsuit against Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan is sure to send shockwaves through the Middle East investment community. Al-Braikan, who declined to comment when reached by telephone, lists many achievements on his resume, including a U.S. Medal of Honor for service in the first Gulf War -- a claim the U.S. Army says is bogus.

Al-Braikan is chief executive of Al-Raya Investment Company, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup. A familiar figure at high-level Middle Eastern financial functions, dressed in traditional Arab robe and speaking impeccable English, he is considered a respected member of the Kuwaiti money management world.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in papers filed in Manhattan federal court that Al-Braikan and entities linked to him in Kuwait and Bahrain earned more than $5 million from well-timed trades in Harman International Industries Inc and Textron Inc.

In Washington, a top SEC enforcement division official, Scott Friestad, said: "This is pretty brazen misconduct."

He said that an investigation began soon after learning about the takeover hoax on Monday at the same time as the markets and media outlets.

...more...

[Botany]

1. he shot himself 6 times in the head too

anybody seen dick cheney?

[hobbit709]

2. That's like the case

where it was ruled suicide after the guy was shot 3 times in the back of the head with a bolt action rifle.

[Hugin]

3. Anybody else notice that 'shockwaves' appears in both stories?

#1. "... sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector."

and

#2. "... send shockwaves through the Middle East investment community."


I'm thinking Reuters and Forbes both need a new Thesaurus... Maybe, I'll send them one. Would that be deductible?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Harman International Industries?

Dingdingdingdingdingdingwoopwoopwoopwoopbrrrrrrpppppbrrrrrrpppppbrrrrrpppppboooodeeeebooooodeeeeboooodeeee

All SORTS of alarm bells just went off in my head and I'm not usually :tinfoilhat:

[No Elephants]

6. Alarm bells? Any shockwaves? Apparently, "shockwaves" is the reaction the media prefers.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Tsunamis! That's the ticket. The result of the shockwaves!

:rofl:

[dgibby]

7. Would you possibly be referring to this particular Harmon and her husband?

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1893017,00.html

And the plot thickens!

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Dingdingdingdingding!

:tinfoilhat:

[UpInArms]

10. from your link

• Harman, 63, grew up in Los Angeles and has four children. Her husband, Sidney Harman, is the founder of Harman International Industries, an audio parts company whose success has netted the couple an estimated fortune of more than $400 million. That sum made her the richest member of Congress, according to a 2008 report

• Harman graduated from Smith College and Harvard Law School. After earning her J.D. in 1969, she became an associate in a Washington, D.C. law firm before transitioning into government as an aide to California Senator John Tunney. In 1977 she joined President Jimmy Carter's Administration as a deputy Cabinet secretary. The following year, she became special counsel to the Department of Defense.

• Though she left government in 1981 and spent part of that decade working for her husband's company, Harman returned to politics in 1991 to run for California's 36th District seat. Buoyed by a sizable war chest, she bested a bevy of candidates in a heated Democratic primary and captured the general election.

[orbitalman]

5. Do I hear CIA secrets...

just asking.

[UpInArms]

11. Update: Al-Braikan Dies in Likely Suicide, Official Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4.R9HiI25kc

July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hazem al-Braikan, who was sued last week by U.S. regulators over bogus takeover bids, was found dead in an apparent suicide, a security official at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued al-Braikan along with Al-Raya Investment Co., United Gulf Bank BSC and Kipco Asset Management Co. for allegedly placing “highly profitable and suspicious” trades before newspaper and Internet reports claiming investors planned to buy Textron Inc. and Harman International Industries Inc.

Al-Braikan, 30, was found dead today from a gun-shot wound, said the official, who declined to be identified because the investigation is continuing. The Kuwait-based financier and firms reaped more than $5 million from the transactions, the SEC said in the lawsuit targeting the traders on July 23.

The SEC said it persuaded a federal court judge in Manhattan to freeze the defendants’ assets while it investigates. The SEC hasn’t yet accused anyone of orchestrating the false reports.

The Textron and Harman trades at issue in the SEC lawsuit were made by Kipco “under specific instructions of its client,” Ogilvy Public Relations said in an e-mailed statement on the company’s behalf on July 24. It didn’t identify the client. Earlier today, United Gulf Bank BSC denied it profited from the transactions saying it placed the positions on a client’s behalf.

Al-Raya CEO

The SEC complaint said al-Braikan is chief executive officer of Al-Raya, an asset-management firm created in 2007. Al-Raya said in a June 2008 statement that Citigroup Inc. owned 10 percent of the firm. Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero- Apsilos declined to comment.

No one answered at Al-Raya and Kipco Asset Management when called by Bloomberg News

The SEC may still sue Al-Braikan’s estate, said Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC lawyer now with Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker PA in Maryland.

...more...

[Snazzy]

12. Textron Inc. was part of the cancelled Marine One contract

So we have Jane's husband and her AIPAC/domestic surveillance problems on the one hand. And the weird and out of control Marine One contract on the other (which Obama rightly canceled). Manipulated from Kuwait by a Citigroup connected "Islamic finance" company.

Good one to watch in terms of follow the money.