The official tasked with repaying customers of Peregrine Financial Group Inc. wants to have a talk with the defunct brokerage’s founder, who’s behind bars after pleading guilty to fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy trustee Ira Bodenstein on Thursday filed papers asking the bankruptcy court to let him question Russell Wasendorf Sr. about Peregrine’s financial affairs, which the trustee says will help him in a months-long effort to repay Peregrine’s customers and other creditors. At the center of that effort is an investigation into various transactions related to the fraud that brought down the brokerage. “Given his significant role in the massive fraud that was perpetrated on PFG’s customers and creditors, Wasendorf is believed to have personal knowledge about many issues that are relevant to the trustee’s ongoing investigation of various matters relating to the debtor’s financial affairs and potential claims against third-parties,” Bodenstein said in a court filing.
