The $4 billion purchase of Burger King by 3G Capital Partners was announced on September 2, 2010. According to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, two men have been charged with making illegal trades. Today, federal prosecutors in New York charged former broker Waldyr Prado, 43, and Igor Cornelsen,65, a director of a British Virgin Islands investment firm, with executing illegal trades. Both men are Brazilian citizens.
In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Prado “misappropriated information” he learned from a client to trade in advance of 3G’s takeover of Burger King. Prado made $175,000 and Cornelsen raked in $1.4 million.
According to Bloomberg, in 2012, Prado, who is also known as Waldyr Da Silva Prado Neto was sued by the Securities Exchange Commission. They identified him as a Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) employee. A spokesman for San Francisco based Wells Fargo said the bank “fully cooperated with the Sec and the U.S. Attorney in their investigation.
Prosecutors said Prado fled the U.S. one month after he was probed by the SEC and told his U.S.- based supervisor he was fleeing “because he believed that he was going to be charged with perjury and because Brazil didn’t have ‘an extradition policy.”It is sad to see exploitation of the fiduciary duty and of the trust of investors ruined by greed. Also- to knowingly plan for the contingency of the lack of an extradition plan is simply criminal.
image: BK.com