Hamanaka Had Secret Swiss Account: Paper

Former Sumitomo Corp copper trader Yasuo Hamanaka had a secret bank account in Switzerland holding nearly one million Swiss francs ($693,000), a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Switzerlands judicial authorities had already informed their Japanese counterparts about the secret account at a bank in Zurich, which was not identified. It said the account was discovered after a search by the bank. Switzerlands reinforced surveillance on financial crime from this year led to the discovery of the account, it said.

Until he was fired a year ago, Hamanaka was the most influential trader in the world copper market, nicknamed Mr Five Percent for the massive holdings he controlled. Hamanaka has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and forgery in connection with unauthorised trades. that Sumitomo blames for a $2.6 billion copper market loss. He faces a maximum 15 years in prison.

 

Hidesato Sekine, one of three lawyers for Hamanaka, said he was aware of the report on the bank account.

Were going to ask Hamanaka himself about it. But at this stage, we cant tell whether it has something to do with his unauthorised trading, he said.