Edward Pennings, Defrauding Clients, Massachusetts 2023
Former State Street Corporation executive Edward Pennings has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud at least six of the bank’s clients through secret commissions applied to billions of dollars of securities trades.
The scheme, which was orchestrated by Pennings while he worked as a senior managing director of the bank's Portfolio Solutions Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, involved adding secret commissions to fixed income and equity trades performed for the clients.
The commissions were charged on top of fees the clients had agreed to pay the bank, and despite written instructions to the bank’s traders that generally reflected that the clients were not to be charged trading commissions.
Pennings, 46, of Surrey, England, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Aisling O’Shea of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Economic Crimes Unit Chief Stephen E. Frank of the District of Massachusetts.
Pennings is scheduled to be sentenced on December 11, 2023.
State Street Corporation, a Boston-based bank, has faced numerous allegations of wrongdoing in recent years, including tax avoidance and money laundering.
The charges against another former State Street executive, Ross McLellan, 45, of Hingham, Massachusetts, remain pending.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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