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Approved:

Before: THE HONORABLE RONALD L. ELLIS


United States Magistrate Judge
Southern District of New York

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SEALED COMPLAINT

-v. - Violation of
18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2
HASSAN NEMAZEE,
COUNTY OF OFFENSE:
Defendant. NEW YORK

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, ss.:

G. DALYNN BARKER, being duly sworn, deposes and says


that she is a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and charges as follows:

COUNT ONE

1. Starting in or about December 2006 and continuing


until in or about August 2009, in the Southern District of New
York and elsewhere, HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, unlawfully,
willfully, and knowingly executed and attempted to execute a
scheme and artifice to defraud a financial institution, the
deposits of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance J

Corporation, and to obtain moneys, funds, credits,assets,


securi ties, and other property owned by and under the cust,ody and
control cfa financial institution, the deposits of which were
insured by the Federal Depos~t Insurance Corporation, by means of
false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, to
wit, in order to induce Citibank, N.A., to lend and continue to
lend money to NEMAZEE, NEMAZEE falsely and fraudulently
represented to Citibank, N.A., that NEMAZEE owned millions of
dollars of specified assets held in particular accounts at
Westminster Securities Corp. and by Pershing LLC as custodian.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1344 and 2) .


The bases for my knowledge and for the foregoing
charges are, in part, as follows:

2. Since approximately 2005, I have been a Special


,Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (~FBI") and am
currently assigned to the FBI's New York field office. I am
familiar with the facts and circumstances set forth below from my
personal participation in the investigation, my examination of
reports and records, and my conversations with other law
enforcement officers and witnesses. This affidavit is based upon
my investigation, my conversations with witnesses and other la~­
enforcement agents, and my examination of reports and records.
Because this affidavit is being submitted for the limited purpose
of establ~shing probable cause, it does not include all the facts
that I have learned during the course of my investigation. Where
the contents of documents and the actions/statements, and
conversations of others are reported herein, they are reported in
substance and in part/ except where otherwise indicated.

THE DEFENDANT

3. Based on my review of documents, including the


Internet site of Nemazee Capital Corporation (~Nemazee Capital"),
I am aware that:

a. At all times relevant to this Complaint,


HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, waSt among other things, the
chairman and chief executive officer of Nemazee Capital. Nemazee
Capital holds itself out as a holding company that' invests in
both public and private companies. Nemazee Capital maintains its
principal executive office in Manhattan.

SUMMARY

4. As set forth below, HASSAN NEMAZEE r the defendant r


engaged in a fraudulent scheme to induce Citibank r N.A., to lend/
and continue to lend, millions of dollars to NEMAZEE based on
false representations that NEMAZEE owned millions of dollars in
collateral. In furtherance of this scheme/ NEMAZEE submitted r
and caused to be submitted r to Citibank numerous fraudulent
documents that purported to establish the existence of accounts
in NEMAZEE's name at various financial institutions containing
many hundreds of millions of dollars. In truth and in fact,
those documents were fraudulent and forged documents. As
explained in detail below r the numerous accounts referenced in
those documents either never existed or had previously existed,
but had been closed years before NEMAZEE submitted the documents
referencing those accounts to Citibank. To further this scheme,

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on many of the documents at issue, NEMAZEE falsely gave as the
address and telephone numbers of various financial institutions
purportedly vouching for his financial strength an address and
telephone number that 'was in fact controlled by NEMAZEE, so that
in the event anyone at Citibank made an effort to confirm the
existence of the assets reflected on the fraudulent documents
submitted by NEMAZEE, they would in fact be contacting a
telephone number assigned to NEMAZEE himself, and not any
financial institution.

THE DEFENDANT ESTABLISHES A CREDIT RELATIONSHIP WITH CITlBANK

5. Based on my review of documents, including


documents obtained from Ci~ibank, N.A. (nCitibank"), as well as
interviews with witnesses, I am aware that:

a. On or about December 22, 2006, HASSAN


NEMAZEE, the defendant, entered into written agreements with
Citibank whereby, in exchange for pledging certain collateral to
Citibank, NEMAZEE had the right to borrow up to $25 million from
Citibank.
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b. In connection with the written agreements,
NEMAZEE represented and agreed, in substance and in part, that he
owned a specified account (the "Pledged Account") at Westminster
Securities Corp., which account was held by Pershing LLC as
custodian. Based on my training and experience and my review of
documents, I am aware that Pershing LLC is a large, well-known
provider of services related to the securities industry and is
affiliated with the Bank of New York Mellon.

c. Further in connection with the written


agreements, NEMAZEE provided and caused to be provided to
Citibank a letter (the "December 22 Letter") .,representing, in
substance and in part, that the Pledged Account had United States
Treasury bills/notes with a face value of $24 million. The
December 22 Letter is signed by, among others, NEMAZEE and,
purportedly, a representative of Pershing LLC (the "First
Pershing LLC Representative") and a representative of Westminster
Securities Corp. (the "Westminster Representative"). Th~ listed
address of Pershing LLC on the December 22 Letter is 575 Madison
Avenue, New York, New York 10022 (the "Madison Avenue Address") .
Based on my conversations with representatives of the Pershing
LLC affiliated with the Bank of New York Mellon, lam aware that
this company does not maintain, and has never maintained, any
offices at the Madison Avenue Address.

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d. The written agreements from December 2006
also provided that NEMAZEE would maintain at all times a net
worth of not less than $250 million.

e. On or about November 20, 2008, NEMAZEE and


Citibank modified their borrowing arrangement to increase the
amount of funds that NEMAZEE could borrow from Citibank to $80
million and to require NEMAZEE to maintain a net worth of not
less than $500 million.

f. In connection with this November 20, 2008,


modification, NEMAZEE provided and caused to be provided to
Citibank a letter (the ~November 20 Letter") relating to the
value of the collateral pledged by NEMAZEE as security for his
borrowings from Citibank. The November 20 Letter is signed by,
among others, NEMAZEE and, purportedly, the First Pershing ~LC
Representative and the Westminster Representative, the same
purported signatories on the December 22 Letter. The listed
address of Pershing LLC on the November 20 Letter is the Madison
Avenue Address.

g. At all times relevant to this Complaint, the


deposits of Citibank were insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation.

CITIBANK SEEKS TO VERIFY ASSETS HELD BY THE DEFENDANT

6. Based on my conversations with other law


enforcement agents and representatives of Citibank and my review
of documents, I am aware of the following:

a. In or about April 2009, HASSAN NEMAZEE/ the


defendant, provided to a representative of Citibank a package
containing, among other things, an account statement from
Westminster Securities Corp. purportedly representing assets held
in the Pledged Account as of March 30, 2009 (the ~March 30
Account Statement"). The total value of the assets purportedly
held in the Pledged Account as of March 30, 2009, is over
approximately $86 million. At or about the same time, NEMAZEE
provided to the same representative of Citibank an account
statemenb from another Westminster Securities Corp. purportedly
representing assets held by him in another account at Westminster
Securities Corp. as of March 30, 2009 (the ~Other March 30
Account Statement"). The total value of the assets purportedly
held in the Other Account as of March 3Q, 2009, is over
approximately $625 million.

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b. On or about August 7, 2009, a reI)resentative
of Citibank contacted NEMAZEE by telephone in order t:o verify
assets held by NEMAZEE. The Citibank representative informed
NEMAZEE that a repre'sentative of Ci tibank was going t:o contact
Pershing LLC to verify assets held by NEMAZEE. NEMA2~EE
responded, in substance and in part, that Citibank sl:10uld not do
so and that NEMAZEE would rather payoff the balance of his loan
from Citibank.

c. On or about August II, 2009, NEMAZEE had


lunch with two representatives of Citibank. At lunch, one of the
representatives of Citibank again requested, in substance and in
part, that NEMAZEE verify the assets held in the Pledged Account.
Shortly thereafter, the other Citibank representative sent
NEMAZEE an e-mail stating, in substance and in part:

We really appreciate your understanding, arld agreement


to circulate the Pershing collateral verification
letter this Friday for signature. Attached {s the text
for the letter. Please ensure that we receive an
original letter on Pershing stationary [sic] signed by
an authorized representative of Pershing in Accounts or
Trade Services.

Thank you for turning this around quickly for us.

The e-mail from the Citibank representative to NEMAZE~E attached


sample language to be used in the verification letter from
Pershing. The sample language left blank the total clmount of the
assets held in the Pledged Account and the details regarding
securities held in the Pledged Account.

d. On or about August 18, 2009, a representative


of Citibank received from NEMAZEE a package containing, among
other things, an account statement from Westminster Securities
Corp. purportedly representing assets held in the Pledged Account
as of June 30, 2009 (the "June 30 Account Statement"). According
to this statement, the total value of the assets purportedly held
in the Pledged Account as of June 30, 2009, is over approximately
$113 million. The address of Westminster Securities Corp. on the
June 30 Account Statement is 100 Park Avenue, New York, New York
10017 and the telephone number is a specified number beginning
with 212-937 (the "212-937 Number") .

e. On or about August 19, 2009, a representative


of Citibank received a letter, dated August 17, 2009 (the "August
17 Letter") that had been sent by facsimile by NEMAZEE and that
purported to be from Pershing LLC, which was described in the

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August 17 Letter as an affiliate of The Bank of New y10rk Mellon.
The August 17 Letter purportedly verifies, in substance and in
part, that the Pledged Account contains:

u.s. Treasury Securities totaling $85,853,751.00


as of 08/17/09 that are ,held in custod'y by
Pershing LLC as collateral for the benefit of
Citibank, N.A.

The August 17 Letter also provides details concerning the market


value of various Treasury securities. The August 17 Letter is
purportedly signed by another representative of Pershing LLC (the
"Second Pershing LLC Representative"). The purported address of
Pershing LLC on the August 17 Letter is ,the Madison Avenue
Address. The purported telephone number of Pershing LLC on the
August 17 Letter is the same 212-937 Number listed on the June 30
Account Statement as the telephone number for Westmin~ter
Securities Corp.

THE AUGUST 17 LETTER AND OTHER


DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY NEMAZEE ARE FAKES

7. Based on my conversations with representatives of


Pershing LLC, who have interviewed the First Pershing LLC
Representative and the Second Pershing LLC Representative, and my
conversations with the Second Pershing LLC Representative and the
Westminster Representative, and my review of documents, including
documents bearing the true signatures of the First Pershing LLC
Representative, the Second Pershing LLC Representative, and the
Westminster Representative', I am aware of the following:

a. The signature of the First Pershing LLC


Representative on the December 22 Letter and on the November 20
Letter is a forgery and was not signed by the First Pershing LLC
Representative. The First Pershing LLC Representative denied
signing the December 22 Letter and the November 20 Letter.
Indeed, the First Pershing LLC Representative does not work in
the area of Pershing LLC that has any responsibility for
executing types of documents such as the December 22 Letter or
the November 20 Letter.

b. The signature of the Westminster


Representative on the December 22 Letter and on the November 20
Letter is a forgery and was not signed by 'the Westminster
Representative. The westminster Representative denied signing
the December 22 Letter and the November 20 Letter.

c. The signature of the Second Pershing LLC

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Representative on the August 17 Letter is a forgery and was not
signed by the Second Pershing LLC Representative. The Second
Pershing LLC Representative denied signing the August 17 Letter.
Indeed the Second Pershing LLC Representative was on vacation
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during the week of August 17 2009, and was not available to


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create or execute the August 17 Letter. In addition, Pershing


LLC does not use the 212-937 Number to conduct business and has
never maintained an office address at the Madison Avenue Address,
both as indicated on the August 17 Letter.

d. The Pledged Account did not contain over $86


million as of March 30, 2009, as indicated in the March 30
Account Statement and as described in paragraph 6(a) I above, or
over $113 million as of June 3p, 2009, as indicated in the June
30 Account Statement and as described in paragraph 6(d), above.
Indeed, there never was any account at Westminster Securities
Corp. bearing the account number of the Pledged Accou.nt as
identified in the December 2006 loan agreements betwe:en NEMAZEE
and Citibank. The March 30 Account Statement and the June 30
Account Statement are not real account statements generated by
Westminster Securities Corp. or Pershing LLC.

e. The account associated with the Other March


30 Account Statement, as described in paragraph 6(a), above, was
in fact closed on or .about December 13, 2001 and, accordingly,
contained no assets as of March 30, 2009. The Other March 30
Account Statement is not a real account state~ent generated by
Westminster Securities Corp. or Pershing LLC.

f. Westminster Securities Corp. has not used 100


Park Avenue in Manhattan as its address for approximately eight
years, although the June 30 Account Statement gives that address
for Westminster. westminster Securities Corp. does not use the
212-937 Number to conduct business, although the June 30 Account
Statemen~/ gives that telephone number for westminste:r" Securities
Corp. As indicated in paragraph 8(b), below, the 212-937 Number
is actually assigned to a fake business set up by HASSAN NEMAZEE,
the defendant -- a business that he named "Pershing LLC," but
which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Pershing LLC
affiliated with the Bank of New York Mellon.

THE DEFENDANT/S MAIL DROP AT THE. MADISON AVENUE ADDRESS·

8. Based on my review of documents and m}l


conversations with other law enforcement agents, who interviewed
representatives of a business located at 575 Madison Avenue in
Manhattan (the "Business"), which is the Madison Averlue Address,
I am aware of the following:

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a. The Business engages in, among other things,
the business of providing telephone answering service, mail
receipt service, and conference rooms. As advertised on its
Internet website, the Business can provide "[a]n exclusive
telephone number answered in your company name" and "575 Madison
Avenue as your mailing address." Based on my training and
experience, these services are sometimes referred to as providing
clients with a "virtual office."

b. On or about January 6, 2004, HASSAN NEMAZEE,


the defendant contracted for service from the Business in the
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name "Pershing LLC." In the documents contracting for service


from the Business, certain names are listed as the personnel
associated with "Pershing LLC." The only such names are the name
of the First Pershing Representative and "H. Nemazee." The
Business was instructed to bill the services, and forward all
mail, to Nemazee Capital, 720 Fifth Avenue, Ninth Floor, New
York, New York 10019, which, based on my review of documents
obtained from Citibank, is a prior address used by Nemazee
Capital.

c. On or about January 6, 2004, the Business


assigned NEMAZEE the 212-937 Number, the same number that appears
on the June 30 Account Statement, purportedly as a number for
Westminster Securities Corp., and on the August 17 Letter,
purportedly as a number for Pershing LLC. Thus, anyone seeking
to verify with those entities that NEMAZEE, in fact, owned the
assets falsely reported in those fraudulent documents purportedly
supplied by westminster Securities Corp. and the real Pershing
LLC, but which were not, in fact, supplied by those entities,
would, upon reviewing those documents, do so by phoning a
telephone number, in fact, controlled by NEMAZEE.

d. At or about the time that NEMAZEE contracted


for service on behalf of Pershing LLC, photocopies of his actual
New York State driver's license and his actual United States
passport were provided to the Business. I have reviewed
photocopies of these documents. Based on my personal observation
of NEMAZEE, the person depicted on the license and passport are
HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant.

e. On or about December 6, 2005, NEMAZEE changed


the address associated with the office address for Pershing LLC
to: Hassan Nemazee, Pershing LLC, c/o Nemazee Capital Corp.,
followed by the current office address of Nemazee Capital.

f. From at least approximately June 24, 2008,


through at least July 22, 2009, NEMAZEE routinely signed checks,

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drawn off an account maintained by Nemazee Capital, payable to
the Business representing the monthly payments to the Business
for maintaining the "Pershing LLC" virtual office.

g. On or about the morning of August 24, 2009,


someone (the "First Unknown Caller") called the 212-937 Number
and asked, in substance and in part, for the Second Pershing LLC
Representative. The receptionist responded, in substance and in
part, that no person by the name of the Second PershingLLC
Representative was associated with the 212-937 Number. The First
Unknown Caller then requested, in substance and in part, to add
the Second Pershing LLC Representative as a person associated
with the 212-937 Number and to remove "H. Nemazee" as an
associated name. The First Unknown Caller also asked the
receptionist if the Second Pershing LLC Representative had missed
any telephone calls.

h. Approximately thirty minutes after the


telephone call described in paragraph 8(g), above, another person
(the "Second Unknown Caller"), who sounded to the receptionist
like the' First Unknown Caller, called the 212·- 937 Number and
asked, in substance and in part, for the Westminster
Representative. The receptionist responded, in substance and in
part, that no person by the name of the Westminster
Representative was associated with the 212-937 Number. The
Second Unknown Caller then requested, in substance and in part,
to add the Westminster Representative as a person associated with
the 212-937 Number.

THE DEFENDANT/S STATEMENTS

9. On or about August 23 2009, another law


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enforcement agent and I interviewed HASSAN NEMAZEE r the


defendant at Newark Liberty International Airport, as NEMAZEE
I

was in the process of checking in for a flight to Romer Italy.


During the interview, NEMAZEE stated, in substance and in part.'
the following:

a. NEMAZEE personally handled his dealings with


Citibank.

b. NEMAZEE does not have an office at the


Madison Avenue Address. As indicated above, however r he in
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fact, maintains a virtual office at that address for his own


"Pershing LLC," and it was the address for that Pershing LLC that
was falsely and fraudulently provided to Citibank as the address
for the real Pershing LLC affiliated with the Bank of New York
Mellon.

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c. NEMAZEE provided the August 17 Letter to
Citibank.

d. When NEMAZEE was shown the June 30 Account


Statement, he stated that it appeared to be a true copy of the
statement for the Pledged Account.

e. Some of the United States Treasury notes


identified on the June 30 Account Statement had been called in
for repurchase between June 30, 2009, and August 17, 2009, and,
therefore, did not appear on the August 17 Letter.

THE DEFENDANT REPAYS HIS LOAN TO CITIBANK

10. Based on my communications with representatives of


Citibank, I am aware that, on or about the afternoon of August
24, 2009, HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, repaid by wire transfer
his outstanding loan to Citibank, an amount in excess of $74
million.

WHEREFORE, deponent prays that a warrant for the arrest


of HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, issue and that he be imprisoned
or bailed, as the case may be.

N BARKER
AGENT
BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Sworn to before me this


24th day of August, 2009'

THE HONORABLE RONALD L. ELLIS


UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

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c. NEMAZEE provided the August l7 Letter to
Citibank.

do When NEMAZEE; was shown tIle June 30 Account


Statement, he stated that it appeared to be a true copy of the
statement for the Pledged Account.

e. Some of the United States Treasury notes


identified on the June 30 Account Statement had been called in
for repurchase between June 30, 2009 and Augus.t 17, 2009 f and,
I

therefore, did not. appear on the August 17 Letter.

THE DEFENDANT. REPAYS HIS LOAN TO CITIBANK

10. Based on my cOlnmunications with representatives o.f


Ci:tibank, I am aware that, on or about the afternoon of August
24, 2009, HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, 'repaid by wire transfer
his outstanding loan to ~itibank, an amount in e~cess of $74
million.

WHEREFORE, deponent prays that a warrant for the arrest


of HASSAN NEMAZEE, the defendant, issue and that he be imprisoned
or bailed, as the case m~y be . .

INVESTIGATION

Sworn to,,':before me this


24th ,d~y of August, 2009

THE HONORABLE 'RONALD 1...


(-.. -
ELLIS .

UNITEDST~TES MAGISTRATE JUDGE


SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ,NEW YORK

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