Perk Hixon, a powerful New York investment banker, on Friday become the latest Wall Street high-flyer to crash into Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s sprawling insider-trading probe.
The 55-year-old ex-Evercore Partners executive, using illegal inside information from 2010-2013, brazenly traded shares through accounts of an ex-girlfriend and his father to net nearly $1 million in profits, prosecutors charge.
Hixon used some of the illegal cash to pay child support to the ex-girlfriend, the mother of his 5-year-old daughter, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit.
Hixon is charged with seven counts of fraud and one count of making false statements.
When confronted by Evercore brass over the allegations, Hixon pretended not to recognize his father’s name or that of his ex-girlfriend, identified in the SEC suit as Destiny “Nicole” Robinson, who is his daughter’s mother.
Frank Perkins Hixon Jr., known as Perk, worked in Evercore’s mining and metals group from 2010 until he was fired last month.
The disgraced banker was arrested by FBI agents in New York Friday morning and appeared before a magistrate later in the day.
Hixon used his position as an investment banker to gain knowledge of the takeover of Titanium Metals and corporate actions by Westway Group.
In October 2012, it is alleged, he logged onto Robinson’s brokerage account and bought 40,000 shares of Titanium — and profited when the takeover was later announced.
Hixon also tipped his dad, living in Georgia, and told him to buy shares in the companies, it is alleged, as well as in Evercore, it is alleged.
In going after Hixon, Bharara is attacking a longtime investment banker who helped put together some major industry-sector deals.
Hixon, an investment banker for 26 years, cut his teeth first with Bruce Wasserstein at First Boston and then spent 17 years at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Wasserstein, after becoming head of Lazard in 2002, hired Hixon. During this time, Hixon advised Goodyear, and Alcoa on the sale of its Reynolds assets.
In 2010, Hixon joined former US Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman’s Evercore Partners.
Evercore, in a statement, said it was tipped off to possible Hixon trading irregularities — and after an internal probe uncovered possible crimes, it reported its concerns to regulators.
“We have never had a situation like this before in Evercore’s nearly 20-year history — this conduct is completely inconsistent with our culture and professional standards,” Evercore’s statement reads.
“As we continue to cooperate fully with the authorities, we want to make clear that we have zero tolerance for actions that violate our most cherished principles and the trust our clients and shareholders place in us.”
Neither Hixon nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.
Hixon, who is a member of the Metropolitan Opera advisory board, according to its web site, faces 20 years in prison on the fraud charges and five years on the false statements charge.
After his court appearance, Hixon was ordered to surrender his passport.