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Approved:
Before:
THEHONORABLE
RONALD
L.
ELLIS
United
States
Magistrate
Judge
Southern
District
of
New
York
----------x
UNITEDSTATES
OF
AMERICA
-v.
-
HASSAN
NEMAZEE,
Defendant.
x
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
OF
NEW
YORK,
ss.:
SEALED
COMPLAINT
Violation
of
18
U.S.C.
§§
1344
and
2
COUNTY
OF
OFFENSE:
NEW
YORK
G.
DALYNN
BARKER,
being
duly
sworn,
deposes
and
says
that
she
is
a
Special
Agent
with
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation,
and
chargesasfollows:
COUNT
ONE
1.
Startingin
or
about
December2006
and
continuing
until
in
or
about
August
2009,
in
the
Southern
District
of
New
York
and
elsewhere,
HASSAN
NEMAZEE,
the
defendant,
unlawfully,
willfully,
and
knowingly
executed
and
attempted
to
execute
a
scheme
and
artifice
to
defraud
a
financial
institution,
the
deposits
of
whichwere
insured
by
the
Federal
DepositInsurance
J
Corporation,
and
toobtain
moneys,
funds,
credits,assets,
securi
ties,
and
other
property
owned
by
and
under
the
cust,ody
and
control
cfa
financial
institution,
the
deposits
of
which
were
insured
by
theFederal
D e p o s ~ t
InsuranceCorporation,
by
means
of
false
and
fraudulentpretenses,
representations,
and
promises,
to
wit,
in
order
to
induce
Citibank,
N.A.,
to
lend
and
continue
to
lend
money
to
NEMAZEE,
NEMAZEE
falsely
and
fraudulentlyrepresented
to
Citibank,
N.A.,
that
NEMAZEE
owned
millions
of
dollars
of
specifiedassets
held
in
particular
accounts
at
Westminster
Securities
Corp.
and
by
Pershing
LLC
as
custodian.
(Title
18,
United
States
Code,
Sections
1344
and
2)
.
The
bases
for
my
knowledge
and
for
the
foregoingcharges
are,
inpart,
as
follows:
2.
Sinceapproximately
2005,
I
have
been
a
Special
,Agent
with
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation
( ~ F B I " )
and
am
currently
assigned
to
the
FBI's
New
York
field
office.
Iam
familiar
with
the
facts
and
circumstances
set
forth
below
from
my
personal
participationin
the
investigation,
my
examination
of
reports
and
records,
and
my
conversations
with
other
law
enforcement
officers
and
witnesses.
This
affidavit
is
based
upon
my
investigation,
my
conversations
with
witnesses
and
other
l a ~ -
enforcement
agents,
and
my
examination
of
reports
and
records.
Because
this
affidavit
is
being
submitted
for
the
limited
purpose
of
e s t a b l ~ s h i n g
probable
cause,
it
does
not
include
all
the
facts
that
I
have
learned
during
the
course
of
my
investigation.
Where
the
contents
of
documentsand
the
actions/statements,
and
conversations
of
othersarereportedherein,
they
arereported
in
substance
and
inpart/
except
where
otherwise
indicated.
THE
DEFENDANT
3.
Based
on
my
review
of
documents,
includingthe
Internet
site
of
Nemazee
Capital
Corporation
( ~ N e m a z e e
Capital"),
I
am
aware
that:
a.
At
all
times
relevantto
this
Complaint,
HASSANNEMAZEE,
the
defendant,
waSt
among
other
things,
the
chairmanand
chief
executive
officer
of
Nemazee
Capital.
Nemazee
Capital
holds
itself
out
as
a
holding
company
that'
invests
in
both
public
and
private
companies.
Nemazee
Capital
maintains
its
principal
executive
officein
Manhattan.
SUMMARY
4.
As
set
forth
below,
HASSAN
NEMAZEE
r
the
defendant
r
engaged
in
a
fraudulent
scheme
to
induce
Citibank
r
N.A.,
to
lend/
and
continue
to
lend,
millions
of
dollars
to
NEMAZEE
based
on
false
representations
that
NEMAZEE
owned
millions
of
dollarsin
collateral.
In
furtherance
of
this
scheme/
NEMAZEE
submitted
r
and
caused
to
be
submitted
r
to
Citibank
numerous
fraudulent
documents
that
purported
to
establish
the
existence
of
accounts
in
NEMAZEE's
name
at
various
financial
institutions
containing
many
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars.
In
truth
and
infact,
those
documents
were
fraudulent
and
forged
documents.
As
explained
in
detail
below
r
the
numerous
accounts
referenced
in
those
documents
either
never
existedor
had
previouslyexisted,
but
had
been
closed
yearsbefore
NEMAZEE
submittedthe
documents
referencing
thoseaccounts
to
Citibank.
To
further
this
scheme,
-2-
on
many
ofthe
documents
at
issue,
NEMAZEE
falsely
gave
as
the
address
and
telephone
numbers
of
various
financial
institutions
purportedly
vouching
for
hisfinancialstrength
an
address
and
telephone
number
that
'was
in
factcontrolled
by
NEMAZEE,
so
that
in
the
event
anyone
at
Citibank
made
an
effort
to
confirm
the
existence
of
the
assets
reflected
on
thefraudulent
documents
submitted
by
NEMAZEE,
they
would
in
fact
be
contacting
a
telephone
number
assigned
to
NEMAZEE
himself,
and
not
any
financial
institution.
THE
DEFENDANT
ESTABLISHESACREDITRELATIONSHIP
WITH
CITlBANK
5.
Basedon
my
review
of
documents,
including
documents
obtained
from
C i ~ i b a n k ,
N.A.
(nCitibank"),aswell
as
interviews
with
witnesses,
Iam
aware
that:
a.
On
or
about
December
22,
2006,
HASSAN
NEMAZEE,
the
defendant,
entered
into
written
agreements
withCitibank
whereby,
in
exchange
for
pledging
certain
collateral
to
Citibank,
NEMAZEE
had
the
right
to
borrow
up
to
$25
million
from
Citibank.
-
b.
In
connection
with
the
written
agreements,
NEMAZEE
represented
and
agreed,
in
substance
and
in
part,that
he
owned
a
specified
account
(the
"Pledged
Account")
at
Westminster
Securities
Corp.,
which
account
was
held
by
Pershing
LLC
as
custodian.
Based
on
my
training
and
experience
and
my
review
of
documents,
Iam
aware
that
Pershing
LLC
is
a
large,
well-known
provider
of
services
related
to
the
securities
industry
and
is
affiliated
with
the
Bank
of
New
York
Mellon.
c.Further
in
connectionwith
the
written
agreements,
NEMAZEE
provided
and
caused
to
be
provided
to
Citibank
a
letter
(the
"December
22
Letter")
.,representing,
in
substance
and
inpart,that
the
Pledged
Accounthad
United
States
Treasury
bills/notes
with
a
face
value
of
$24
million.
The
December
22
Letter
is
signed
by,
among
others,
NEMAZEE
and,
purportedly,
a
representative
of
Pershing
LLC
(the
"First
Pershing
LLC
Representative")
and
a
representative
of
Westminster
Securities
Corp.
(the
"Westminster
Representative").
T h ~
listed
address
of
Pershing
LLC
on
the
December
22
Letter
is
575
Madison
Avenue,
New
York,
New
York10022
(the
"Madison
Avenue
Address")
.
Based
on
my
conversations
with
representatives
of
the
Pershing
LLC
affiliated
with
the
Bank
of
New
York
Mellon,
lam
aware
that
this
company
does
not
maintain,
and
has
nevermaintained,
any
offices
at
the
Madison
Avenue
Address.
-3-'
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