Peregrine CEO Indicted for Lying to Regulators

Move follows botched suicide attempt, confession of bilking customers.

Peregrine Financial Group founder and CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr was indicted on charges of lying to regulators, a little over a month after his botched suicide attempt and his signed confession to bilking customers of his brokerage for years.

Wasendorf "overstated the value of PFG's customer segregated funds by at least tens of millions of dollars" to the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission, according to the indictment, filed in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The indictment carries a possible maximum sentence of 155 years in prison, a $7.75 million fine, and 93 years of supervised release following any imprisonment, the U.S. Attorney's office said.