WASHINGTON - At least two more former JPMorgan Chase & Co. officials are facing allegations in a Justice Department criminal investigation of anti-competitive practices in municipal market derivatives and investments, according to regulatory filings.
Michael Lena, who worked at JPMorgan for 11 years, was fired in May after he notified the firm that he had been told by Justice in December that he is a target of its criminal probe, according to records published by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Alexander Wright, who was fired in April, was informed that he was being investigated as part of the Justice probe in January, though FINRA filings do not say whether he is a target.
The disclosures related to the firings brings the total number of JPMorgan bankers or alumni involved in the probe to at least seven. Lena and Wright's firings were first reported by Bloomberg News.
A market participant familiar with the matter said that JPMorgan has signed agreements with the bankers it has fired in which the firm promises to pay their legal bills. A JPMorgan spokesman did not return phone calls yesterday.
The Justice Department has been conducting a parallel investigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission into alleged bid-rigging, price-fixing, and other practices that violate antitrust laws. The investigations have been ongoing since at least the fall of 2006 and involve dozens of banks, investment banks, advisory firms, and individuals.
The probes became public when the Federal Bureau of Investigation in November 2006 raided three investment advisory firms: CDR Financial products in Beverly Hills, Calif., Investment Management Advisory Group Inc., in Pottstown, Pa., and Sound Capital Management in Eden Prairie, Minn. A few months later, Bank of America NA entered into an amnesty agreement with the Justice Department, under which it was granted amnesty from criminal prosecution.
