Kuwaiti Businessman Commits Suicide

Hazem al-Braikan, a Kuwaiti businessman linked to Citigroup, knew he was facing serious charges of fraud from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, which was accusing him of illegally manipulating stocks. The charges were too much to bear, apparently, and al-Braikan was found dead Sunday in what appeared to be a suicide. Only last week the SEC had served notice to al-Braikan that it would freeze more than $5 million that they believed was illegally earned. Al-Braikan stood accused of circulating two bogus media reports regarding major business deals for two of his companies in order to profit off the news. Citibank owned 10 percent of one of his companies.