NEW YORK,NY - Federal prosecutor Preet Bharara got a resounding farewell from his staff and colleagues here as he left his office after being fired by the Trump administration. Staff and colleagues lined up on the stairs outside the Southern District of New York office in lower Manhattan to bid farewell to Bharara. A video posted by CNBC on Twitter on March 13, shows the SDNY staff cheering and applauding as Bharara walks out of the building...
for a final time. Bharara made his way down the stairs, greeting his employees and colleagues lined up on both sides behind a barricade. Exchanging pleasantries, he stopped to shake hands giving them hugs and pats on the shoulder. As reporters on the scene tried to question him on his firing, Bharara said, “this is the best prosecutor’s office you’ll ever see” and walked away.
The Trump administration had on Mar 10 ordered 46 US Attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to resign with immediate effect. Bharara had refused to submit his resignation and had tweeted on March 11 that he had been fired.
“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life,” he had said in the tweet.
High Profile
From a jurisdiction covering Manhattan, Bharara was often in the limelight as he went after politicians and high-flying financiers. It is customary for political appointees of a President to resign when a new one is elected. All ambassadors, for example, were asked in January to resign and they complied. Among them was Richard Verma, an Indian-American US ambassador to India.
Bharara’s case was unusual because unlike most of the other federal prosecutors he had been asked by Trump in November to stay on in his job. He told reporters at that time that he had agreed to Trump’s request to continue in his position.
Preetinder Singh Bharara was born in Ferozepore in 1968 and immigrated to the US as a child.
Bharara’s jurisdiction covered the US financial capital, earning him the nickname of “Sheriff of Wall Street”.
He prosecuted more than 100 finance executives for criminal activities like stock trading irregularities using insider information.
They include several Indians like Rajat Gupta, the former head of the consulting company McKinsey, and a Goldman Sachs Director, who served two years in jail for colluding with the Sri Lankan-American hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam in a stock market scam. His ouster was probably greeted with a silent sigh of temporary relief by several politicians.
Although a Democrat, Bharara has prosecuted several New York politicians of his party and the most notable among them is Sheldon Silver, a former speaker of the state assembly, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption.
While he was being ousted, Bharara was investigating Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s election fundraising and close aides of Governor Mario Cuomo. He also prosecuted former UN General Assembly President John Ashe for alleged corruption before he died.
Among Bharara’s high-profile cases against banks, Citibank paid a $158 million fine to settle a case he brought against it for misleading the government about loans.
In another case, Citbank made a $7 billion payment to the government after Bharara began investigating its Mexican unit.
JP Morgan Chase was made to forfeit $7 billion for failing to inform authorities about a massive investment fraud by a client.
Replaced by Friend Bharara has been replaced temporarily by a long-time friend and top adviser.
Joon H Kim, 45, who had previously served as Bharara’s chief counsel, criminal division head and top deputy, will be acting US attorney in the Southern District of New York until Trump nominates a candidate for the job who can be confirmed by the Senate. That process could take months. In the meantime, Kim, the son of a South Korean diplomat who came up through the ranks of the US attorney’s office in Manhattan prosecuting organised crime and terrorism cases with his old boss, isn’t likely to stop pursuing the kinds of cases that have made the Manhattan prosecutor’s office known for its reach and breadth, former colleagues say.
The Trump administration had on Mar 10 ordered 46 US Attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to resign with immediate effect. Bharara had refused to submit his resignation and had tweeted on March 11 that he had been fired.
“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life,” he had said in the tweet.
High Profile
From a jurisdiction covering Manhattan, Bharara was often in the limelight as he went after politicians and high-flying financiers. It is customary for political appointees of a President to resign when a new one is elected. All ambassadors, for example, were asked in January to resign and they complied. Among them was Richard Verma, an Indian-American US ambassador to India.
Bharara’s case was unusual because unlike most of the other federal prosecutors he had been asked by Trump in November to stay on in his job. He told reporters at that time that he had agreed to Trump’s request to continue in his position.
Preetinder Singh Bharara was born in Ferozepore in 1968 and immigrated to the US as a child.
Bharara’s jurisdiction covered the US financial capital, earning him the nickname of “Sheriff of Wall Street”.
He prosecuted more than 100 finance executives for criminal activities like stock trading irregularities using insider information.
They include several Indians like Rajat Gupta, the former head of the consulting company McKinsey, and a Goldman Sachs Director, who served two years in jail for colluding with the Sri Lankan-American hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam in a stock market scam. His ouster was probably greeted with a silent sigh of temporary relief by several politicians.
Although a Democrat, Bharara has prosecuted several New York politicians of his party and the most notable among them is Sheldon Silver, a former speaker of the state assembly, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption.
While he was being ousted, Bharara was investigating Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s election fundraising and close aides of Governor Mario Cuomo. He also prosecuted former UN General Assembly President John Ashe for alleged corruption before he died.
Among Bharara’s high-profile cases against banks, Citibank paid a $158 million fine to settle a case he brought against it for misleading the government about loans.
In another case, Citbank made a $7 billion payment to the government after Bharara began investigating its Mexican unit.
JP Morgan Chase was made to forfeit $7 billion for failing to inform authorities about a massive investment fraud by a client.
Replaced by Friend Bharara has been replaced temporarily by a long-time friend and top adviser.
Joon H Kim, 45, who had previously served as Bharara’s chief counsel, criminal division head and top deputy, will be acting US attorney in the Southern District of New York until Trump nominates a candidate for the job who can be confirmed by the Senate. That process could take months. In the meantime, Kim, the son of a South Korean diplomat who came up through the ranks of the US attorney’s office in Manhattan prosecuting organised crime and terrorism cases with his old boss, isn’t likely to stop pursuing the kinds of cases that have made the Manhattan prosecutor’s office known for its reach and breadth, former colleagues say.
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