Peregrine Financial Group's former chief executive, who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100 million from customers of his futures brokerage, will be sentenced on Jan. 31, Reuters reported yesterday. Russell Wasendorf Sr., who founded the now-defunct firm, faces a potential maximum sentence of 50 years in prison after pleading guilty in September to mail fraud, lying to regulators and embezzling customer money. Wasendorf has been awaiting sentencing in a jail in Iowa, where Peregrine Financial was based. The Jan. 31 hearing is in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
