Jefferies withdrew its bid but reported Kamensky’s misconduct to the UCC. When he learned about it, he tried to convince Jefferies to cover up his scheme.
During an interview with the Office of the United States Trustee, Kamensky said his actions were a “terrible mistake” and “profound errors in lapses of judgment.”
In a statement, SEC Division of Enforcement’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit Chief Daniel Michael said, “Misrepresentations and deceptive conduct have no place in securities offerings,. As alleged, Kamensky abused his position as a fiduciary to the Neiman Marcus unsecured creditors by secretly working against them.”
On the other hand, Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, Daniel Kamensky disregarded his fiduciary responsibility to unsecured creditors of Neiman Marcus – and broke the law – when he attempted to coerce a competitor to withdraw a higher bid for assets of the bankruptcy estate.”
“As further alleged, acknowledging the illegality of his actions, Kamensky then attempted to obstruct an investigation by trying to persuade the competitor to change his account of the coercion, telling the competitor that otherwise ‘this is going to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.’ As today’s charges show, Kamensky was right about that.”
