Ex-JPMorgan Money Launderer Was Following Orders, Says Lawyer

Tom Burroughes

30 July 2008

A banker arrested in Argentina on charges that he stole more than $5 million from the accounts of customers at UBS and JPMorgan says he was only following orders when he laundered money to avoid paying taxes, his defense lawyer said, according to media reports.

Hernan Arbizu was arrested earlier this week in Buenos Aires on a US request to extradite him to New York, where he faces up to 30 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines if convicted of embezzlement, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

When the charges were filed in May, Mr Arbizu not only turned himself in, but acknowledged the charges against him in a declaration to the court titled "My error," defence counsel Argibay Molina said.

In the declaration, Mr Arbizu described the crimes he committed but said they were common practices that JPMorgan used to evade taxes and launder ill-gotten money, the lawyer said. JPMorgan fired the banker in May.

A spokesman said the company "appreciates the cooperation and the prompt joint action of the Argentine and American authorities," but declined comment on Mr Arbizu's allegations that he was only following orders.

Prosecutors say Mr Arbizu was a vice president in the private banking division at JPMorgan, responsible for maintaining and developing private banking relationships in Latin America, when he embezzled the money between March 2007 and April 2008.