Russell R. Wasendorf Sr., CEO of the collapsed commodity firm Peregrine Financial Group, was indicted by a federal grand jury on 31 counts of making false statements to regulators.
“On 31 occasions between about February 2010 and June 2012, Wasendorf caused false reports to be submitted to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” Stephanie M. Rose, a US prosecutor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said.
Wasendorf, 64, faces a top sentence of 155 years in prison and a maximum fine of $7.75 million if convicted on all counts, Rose said.
No arraignment date has been set, she said.
The founder and chairman of PFG has been in US custody since his arrest on July 13.
Four days earlier, Wasendorf attempted suicide outside his firm’s Cedar Falls, Iowa, headquarters, the same day the National Futures Association announced a shortfall of more than $200 million in customer funds that the firm had reported on deposit at US Bank just days earlier.
The CFTC on July 10 sued the firm and Wasendorf, claiming they had misappropriated the missing money. Peregrine filed for bankruptcy later that same day.