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The former analyst of Janus Henderson who was accused of exploiting a ring of an insider trade in his personal trainer, said he gave the instructor £ 20,000 because he “felt sorry for him” during the Coronavirus Pandemie.
Redinel Korfuzi, 37, told London Jury members on Wednesday that he had worried that Rogerio de Aquino, 63, was planning to use part of a COVID -19 “Bounce Back” loan that was guaranteed by the British government to trading financial instruments, and that he did not want to be in troubles in trouble.
Justice officers at the Authority Financial Conduct accused Korfuzi of the use of houseworking during the pandemic as coverage to run an Insider-Handel syndicate-under the Aquinoo that yielded nearly £ 1 million by illegal bets on stock prices in 2020 and 2021.
The FCA said that the network had exploited information that Korfuzi had taken out of his job from fund manager Janus Henderson about coming fundraising by listed companies, including Jet2, Hargreaves Lansdown and THG.
The insider trade was not carried out in the own name of Korfuzi, but in those of other members of the Ring, including the Aquino, who lived in a nearby flat to Korfuzi and prepared a trade account at IG, officers claimed.
Cross Cross Korfuzi investigated Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, Adam Kane KC, who represented the Aquino, said it to the former analyst that he had told the personal trainer that he would “be in charge of the trade” and agreed to post “£ 20,000 of [his] Own money in ”.
But Korfuzi, who denies misconduct, said that the lawyer “had suggested” what happened.
“I just wanted to help a man I considered a friend in a serious difficulty time,” said the suspect, adding that the aquino had been “depressed” because Lockdown restrictions had led him to get into financial difficulties. “I felt sorry for him.”
The court was shown a transcription of a call between the Aquino and the trading platform IG, in which the personal trainer said that a “customer of mine” had advised him to open the account.
Kane thought it to Korfuzi that he had proposed the Aquino that he had his Covid -Bounce Loan “to work” by acting a financial investment account “that you would take care of”.
“Absolutely not correct,” Korfuzi replied. He said he had not discussed confidential insider information with the Aquino.
Korfuzi was later interviewed by the FCA lawyer, Tom Forster KC, about a series of meetings that Korfuzi said he had different men in London, in which the suspect said he had received tens of thousands of pounds while working at Janus Henderson.
Korfuzi said he had received the money on behalf of his father’s company in Albania. He told the court earlier that it was “very, very normal” for an Albanian person to receive and pay for things in cash and the money was “absolutely not” of a criminal activity.
“My father would say go collect, and I would gather,” he said.
Forster asked the suspect about the details of such a meeting, of which Korfuzi had said he took place in Enfield, including whether he had counted the money. Korfuzi said he hadn’t done that.
“It’s absurd, right?” Said the lawyer. Korfuzi replied: “You make it absurd, but it is a common event.”
The four defendants in the case, who also include the sister Oerta Korfuzi from Korfuzi, 36, and the girlfriend of the Aquino Dema Almeziad, 40, are all accused of one count of insider trade and one count of money laundering.
The defendants deny the charges and the case continues.