By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 9 – A scandal of Allianz that has been brewing since the collapse of its investment funds as COVID set has given rise to guilty pleas of two cooperators, and the indictment of Gregoire Tournant, by Southern District of New York prosecutors on May 17, 2022.
Jump cut to January 9, 2024 when Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain held a conference. Inner City Press was there. After lengthy arguments about the timing of defense expert disclosures, and disclosures of what witnesses would say, Chief Judge Swain set an April conference, saying that the September 23 trial date will remain firm regardless. The final pre-trial conference, no matter before what judge, was set for September 12 at 3 pm.
At issue are Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC's Structured Alpha Funds; the cooperators are Stephen Bond-Nelson, who along with Tournant was discharged in late 2021, and Trevor Taylor.
At 3 pm AGI pleaded guilty, and even got a sentencing date, in a peak of corporate personhood. Inner City Press live tweeted here
Jump cut to June 2, when Gregoire Tournant was arraigned before SDNY Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain. Inner City Press live tweeted here
Earlier in the day, Inner City Press went to the SDNY press conference and asked if the US Attorney's Office anticipates seeking any jail time for Taylor and Bond-Nelson - who left his SEC interview, ostensibly for a bathroom break, and never came back.
Inner City Press has uploaded Bond-Nelson's cooperation deal to Patreon here.
US Attorney Damian Williams replied that it is early in the cooperation so too early to tell. To Inner City Press' question about whether his Office worked with BaFin or other German authorities, he declined to say, emphasizing the collaboration of DOJ, the Postal Inspectors and SEC.
The prosecutors' statement of facts goes out of its way to say "The misconduct occurred only within the small Structured Products Group at AGI US. The Government’s investigation has not revealed evidence that anyone at AGI US outside of the Structured Products Group was aware of the misconduct before March 2020. The investigation also has not revealed that anyone at any other organizations that fell within the broader umbrella of the parent company Allianz SE was aware of or participated in the misconduct."
Allianz has previously been fined by the US OFAC for sanctions violations, and for example hit with penalties by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
Inner City Press will stay on the case - watch this site.
The case is US v. Tournant, 22-cr-276 (Swain)
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