HSBC Holdings Plc said it is a victim of a $75 million fraud by Hassan Nemazee, a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who was arrested last month for defrauding Citigroup Inc.
The U.S. unit of HSBC, the world’s third-largest bank by market value, filed a $75 million fraud lawsuit against Nemazee in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. The Sept. 2 suit came a week after Nemazee was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for cheating Citigroup out of $74 million.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Nemazee, 59, repaid $74 million he stole from Citigroup by tricking another bank to lend him the money on Aug. 24. That came a day after Nemazee was questioned by the FBI about the alleged Citigroup scam and the day before he was arrested. Prosecutors didn’t identify the second bank in an account that corresponds to the allegations in the complaint by HSBC Bank USA.
