[3] Peregrine’s chief executive, Russell R. Wasendorf Sr., was arrested and charged with making false statements to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Wasendorf attempted to commit suicide before his arrest and wrote in a confession letter that he had been "using a scheme of false bank statements to embezzle millions of dollars from customer accounts over a period of about 20 years."
"[6] He pleaded guilty to all charges, and in January 2013 federal judge Linda Reade sentenced him to 50 years of prison.
The CFTC filed a criminal complaint in Cedar Rapids against the Cedar Falls firm Peregrine Financial Group, Inc., and Russell R. Wasendorf, Sr.[5] Wasendorf was also sued on July 13 by Michael LaSalvia of Naperville, Illinois, who sought class action status for his suit against the CEO and his son.
[11] Peregrine Financial Group CEO's attempted suicide and his confession to a massive fraud was covered as a documentary on CNBC's American Greed show as Episode 87 under the title "The Falcon & the Con Man" [12]