A New York stock trader pleaded guilty to paying thousands of dollars in cash bribes to a broker at an investment banking firm in exchange for preferential access to lucrative IPOs, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Adam Rentzer, 52, of Roslyn, New York, admitted Monday in Trenton federal court to one count of violating the Travel Act by engaging in commercial bribery. He faces as long as five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he’s sentenced Jan. 11, according to the U.S.
Rentzer was described by prosecutors as a trader who bought and sold securities in initial and secondary public stock offerings, including those marketed by two New York-based investment banking firms that employed broker Brian Hirsch.
Rentzer admitted that between mid-2013 and January 2017, he and an unidentified co-conspirator
Prosecutors said that by accepting Rentzer’s bribes, Hirsch knowingly violated policies and procedures of both brokerage firms that employed him. While the government didn’t identify Hirsch’s employers, FINRA records show Hirsch worked at Barclays from 2008 to 2015 and then at Stifel from 2015 to 2018.
Wayne Rushton served more than four decades at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, culminating in his role as senior deputy comptroller and chief national bank examiner. In that capacity, he chaired the agency's Committee on Bank Supervision and represented the OCC on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's Task Force on Supervision.
Earlier in his career, Wayne led the OCC's Multinational Banking Division and held several senior examination and supervisory positions. He gained extensive experience managing troubled institutions during the late 1980s and early 1990s, including service as the comptroller's deputy at the Resolution Trust Corporation and as director of the OCC's Special Resolutions Unit. He also completed a special assignment with the U.S. Department of Justice as a legislative fellow in the 97th Congress.
Following his government service, Wayne was a senior advisor at Promontory Financial Group, where he helped clients navigate complex regulatory examinations and enforcement issues and strengthen relationships with supervisory agencies.
A 2002 graduate of the University of Kentucky, Nesbitt has worked at newspapers in Kentucky, Indiana, China, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Vermont and South Carolina.
Alex D. Pappas is an associate in Hunton's Insurance Coverage group in the firm's Washington, DC office. He counsels clients on all aspects of insurance coverage, guiding them in obtaining appropriate coverage and resolving disputes over coverage, including in litigation and arbitration.
John Carman, a lawyer for Rentzer, didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail message seeking comment on the plea.
Hirsch pleaded guilty to the bribe scheme in December and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18, prosecutors said.
The SEC filed a parallel civil complaint against Rentzer. According to the suit, regulators said that in most instances, Rentzer sold his stock into the market as soon as possible and turned a "substantial profit" estimated to be about $800,000. Rentzer also secretly shared his profits with Hirsch in the form of about $200,000 in cash kickbacks, according to regulators.
