Last week, Peregrine Financial Group collapsed at the hands of a $200 million fraud scandal that left the nation shocked. The trouble is not yet over, though. Now, word has come out that the brokerage has also defaulted on incentive packages totaling well over $1 million.
The brokerage's collapse came to light on July 9 when the company's founder and CEO, Russell Wasendorf, Sr., was found after attempting to commit suicide, then arrested for allegedly lying to federal regulators.
According to reports, Wasendorf was found unresponsive after hooking up a tube to his car's tailpipe and running it inside his car. As stated on bradenton.com, he left a suicide note admitting to 20 years of embezzlement from customers.
When Wasendorf was revived, he was arrested by the FBI with federal charges of embezzlement that totaled over $215 million. The charges could land the CEO in prison for decades.
The arrest, the discovery of the embezzlement and the scandal that ran across Iowa and the nation caused the company to fall - but not before it took one additional blow.
According to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, they had already warned the brokerage that it was paying its employees lower than promised and would need to make reparations.
Instead of doing this, though, the company asked for time and filed bankruptcy last week. With the incidents that followed, there is currently nothing known about whether the reparations for the defaults will actually be made.
Before the fail, the brokerage was viewed as one of the largest successes in the state.
The brokerage's collapse came to light on July 9 when the company's founder and CEO, Russell Wasendorf, Sr., was found after attempting to commit suicide, then arrested for allegedly lying to federal regulators.
According to reports, Wasendorf was found unresponsive after hooking up a tube to his car's tailpipe and running it inside his car. As stated on bradenton.com, he left a suicide note admitting to 20 years of embezzlement from customers.
When Wasendorf was revived, he was arrested by the FBI with federal charges of embezzlement that totaled over $215 million. The charges could land the CEO in prison for decades.
The arrest, the discovery of the embezzlement and the scandal that ran across Iowa and the nation caused the company to fall - but not before it took one additional blow.
According to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, they had already warned the brokerage that it was paying its employees lower than promised and would need to make reparations.
Instead of doing this, though, the company asked for time and filed bankruptcy last week. With the incidents that followed, there is currently nothing known about whether the reparations for the defaults will actually be made.
Before the fail, the brokerage was viewed as one of the largest successes in the state.
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