Ex-consultancy head given 15 years for defrauding Lehman Brothers

Tuesday 15th September, 07:10 AM JST

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neganip at 09:26 AM JST - 15th September

All these people are a result of our own basic instinct to make money grow. They are created because EVERYONE wants to see returns on capital. So punish away my friends .... Dont address the cause !
gaijintraveller at 09:55 AM JST - 15th September

Is anyone from Lehman's going to be done for deceiving investors about the quality of their securities? I doubt it.
timorborder at 10:43 AM JST - 15th September

I also believe that 15 years is pretty step. He would have got less for murder in this country. Furthermore, that whacked him up with a nice fine and all. Perhaps the sentence has some form of deeper meaning. The guy just didn't try to swindle Lehmann, he did it using forged documents that had the Marubeni name on it (one of Japan's big establishment trading companies). Given that the bench and the establishment are all in cahoots in this country, a few well-placed phone calls probably sealed this guy's fate.
stirfry at 12:42 PM JST - 15th September

and Richard Fuld gets to keep his $200 million and the houses...go figure
leitmotiv at 12:51 PM JST - 15th September

I dont know details of this case, but I wonder if Japan's backwards business system of "hanko" certification played an enabling role.
wanderlust at 01:26 PM JST - 15th September

Reminds me of the line in 'Max Headroom' when they ask what serious crime the condemned prisoner is to be executed for? Murder? Rape? Arson?

Credit card fraud!

Such are the times we now live in....
Yelnats at 01:53 PM JST - 15th September

If he murdered the guy that was goin g to rat on him first, he would have gotten only a third of that sentence.
Kronos at 05:01 PM JST - 15th September

I remember this case from a while ago. So is Lehman getting the money back?
Shaolin7 at 11:14 PM JST - 15th September

The article is a bit unclear, at least to me; did he manage to convince them to invest? The first paragraph says he was sentenced for "conspiracy in defrauding" the Japanese arm of Lehman, yet the second paragraph seems to allude otherwise. Conspiracy charges indicate that the agenda wasn't followed through on i.e. no investment. I'm certainly not a lawyer though, so if someone with a legal background here could clarify that would be appreciated.

P.S. Kronos, I'm not sure if the money would be paid back to Barclays Capital (the company that bought up most Lehman Brothers assets) or not, depending on a) if any investment was made in the first place, and b) if the Japanese arm was also taken over by Barclays, or spun off to other interests, etc.
ca1ic0cat at 05:54 AM JST - 16th September

That is a bit harsh. He obviously didn't "spend" his money wisely....
taj at 09:53 AM JST - 16th September

GG2141 asks some questions / makes some guesses as to why the guy was given a stiff sentence but no one thinks of the most common factors: 1) is this a first offense/ first conviction? or is he a career con-man. (appears he had a talent for it!)
Kronos at 09:59 AM JST - 16th September

Shaolin7: Thanks for the reply. If I remember it correctly, Barclays bought most of the assets in US. In Japan, it was Nomura. However I do not remember Nomura buying any assets but only people i.e. business. So if any money is returned, it would most probably be to Lehman Brothers liqudators. Most probably there is another news somewhere or another court case still going on about it.
taj at 10:02 AM JST - 16th September

I don't remember any of the details - does anyone else? Was the guy blackmailing Marubeni employees in order to fake the documents? Did anyone commit suicide over their involvement?
Kronos at 10:43 AM JST - 16th September

Taj: Following older links have more details from the time when this incident occured.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/business/worldbusiness/03iht-lehman.1.11640890.html

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2008/gb20080331_273577.htm
Shaolin7 at 11:16 PM JST - 16th September

Cheers Kronos, thank you for the clarification + additional links. They absolutely buried this guy, but given the current optics on economic conditions, as well as the sentencing guidelines from other cases (i.e. Madoff & other snake oil salesmen), this appears about par for the course.