A Kuwait financier who was being sued over fishy profits from an alleged takeover hoax of a Stamford company was found dead Sunday.
Police said his death is an apparent suicide.
In June when Hazem Al-Braikan, 37, started buying shares of Harman International Industries Inc., a Stamford company that makes audio equipment for cars, Reuters reports.
Braikan was the chief executive of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup, according to the New York Times.
The scandal kicked up a notch on July 19, when a fax was sent stating it was planning to takeover Harman stock, Reuters reports.
The next day, AME Info, a Dubai-based business news service, went with the story, reporting that Arabian Peninsula Group, and a South Korean partner were willing to offer $49.50 a share for Harmon, Dow Jones reported.
Several other Web sites picked up the story, sending shares surging and forcing Harman to release the denial minutes before the trading day began.
Business
“The Company has not received such communications and is not familiar with any parties claiming to make such a solicitation,” the company said in a news release.
At some point that day, Al-Braikan sold 341,000 shares and the others allegedly involved made a profit of more than $5 million, Reuters reports.
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On July 23, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Braikan and two other finance firms, accusing them of having improperly earned millions of dollars from trades in Harman International Industries and Textron.
The regulator was looking for the money to be returned.
On July 26, Kuwait police found Al-Braikan dead at his home.
