Hunted Barings Trader Detained in Germany
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FRANKFURT, Germany — Barings trader Nick Leeson and his wife were detained by German border police at Frankfurt airport today after arriving on a Royal Brunei Airlines flight, a police spokesman said.
“Mr. Leeson and his wife were found on board the flight and are currently in the rooms of the German border police,” the spokesman said.
He said Leeson had not been officially arrested but he could give no further details.
Leeson arrived on a Royal Brunei Airlines flight to Frankfurt via Bangkok and Abu Dhabi.
The police hunt for the missing trader behind the collapse of British investment bank Baring Brothers & Co. had earlier expanded from Asia to Canada.
What Leeson, 28, did was speculate on the future price of stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange using so-called derivatives, which essentially are bets on whether the index will rise or fall.
The Daily Telegraph reported on its front page that Leeson’s losses wiped out the 233-year-old Barings, a conservative and, until this year, profitable bank that is now in the British equivalent of bankruptcy.
Spokesmen for the administrators of Barings said Wednesday night that negotiations were continuing for the sale of the remains of the bank.
* RELATED STORIES: D1, D12
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