Italy seizes $2.1b from Japan's Nomura in fraud probe
PHOTO: Italy seizes $2.1b from Japan's Nomura in fraud probe
PUBLISHED ONApril 16, 2013 2:15 AM
ROME - Italian police on Tuesday seized 1.8 billion euros (S$2.9 billion) destined for Nomura and placed the Japanese bank's former CEO Sadeq Sayeed under investigation in a fraud probe over a derivatives deal with troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi.
A statement from the prosecutor's office in Siena, the hometown of the Italian bank, said it had ordered the seizure of "a total of around 1.8 billion euros from Nomura International."
Prosecutors also seized a total of 14.4 million euros from three former managers of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena who are under investigation.
Another senior Nomura executive, Raffaele Ricci, has also been placed under investigation.
The statement said Sayeed and Ricci were suspected of "gravely obstructing" the activities of supervisory authorities and putting out "false statements". Contacted by AFP, Nomura declined to comment.