Court document: Peregrine CEO admits fraud

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CHICAGO, July 13 (UPI) -- Russell Wasendorf Sr., chief executive of Peregrine Financial Group Inc., based in Iowa, admitted lying to regulators to cover fraud, a court filing said.

Wasendorf was arrested Friday on criminal charges of making false statements to federal commodities market regulators regarding customer funds. The government says $215 million is missing from the futures trading firm.

Peregrine filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in Chicago after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing Peregrine and Wasendorf of fraud, customer-funds violations and making false statements.

Wasendorf, 64, attempted suicide Monday outside Peregrine's headquarters in Cedar Falls. Police said they found him in his car with a hose running from the car's tailpipe.

A suicide note addressed to his wife and a signed statement confessing to the alleged fraud were found in his car, court documents filed in U.S. District for the Northern District of Iowa, indicated.

"I have committed fraud," the statement said, The Financial Times reported, citing the court filing. "For this I feel constant and intense guilt."

Investigators said they interviewed Wasendorf Monday in an Iowa City hospital and he acknowledged writing the note using a computer at his residence and confirmed that its contents were true.