Czech police charge Nomura official with insider trading

Czech police have charged a 37-year-old representative of the Japanese investment bank Nomura with insider trading, in the so-called "Czech beer operation", in which the bank is said to have used shareholdings in the Plzensky Prazdroj brewery to support its investment in the now defunct Czech IPB bank. According to the anti-corruption office, bank funds were used to pay for the brewery's acquisition. The illegal use of property as 'insurance' then allegedly helped the investment bank illegally gain seven billion crowns, the equivalent of more than 280 million USD. If found guilty of insider dealings the bank official could face up to twelve years in prison.