Peregrine Financial Group CEO indicted for lying to regulators

SAN FRANCISCO/CHICAGO (REUTERS) - Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) founder and chief executive Russell Wasendorf Senior was indicted on charges of lying to regulators, a little over a month after he botched a suicide attempt and confessed to bilking customers of his brokerage for years.

Wasendorf, 64, "overstated the value of PFG's customer segregated funds by at least tens of millions of dollars" to the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC), according to the indictment, filed in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The indictment carries a possible maximum sentence of 155 years in prison, a US$7.75 million (S$9.7 million) fine, and 93 years of supervised release following any imprisonment, the United States (US) Attorney's office said.

The public defender representing Mr Wasendorf Sr could not immediately be reached for comment.