Citigroup former executive charged with embezzlement

US authorities have charged a former vice-president at Citigroup with embezzling more than $19m (£11m) from the bank. Gary Foster, 35, was arrested at New York's John F Kennedy Airport on Sunday morning when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok, the justice department said. Foster, a former treasury finance department executive, is accused of using his position at the bank to funnel money from various Citigroup accounts to his personal bank account. Between July and December 2010, he allegedly moved around $14.4m from Citigroup's debt adjustment account and $900,000 from the bank's interest expense account to his personal account in eight separate wire transfers. In one transfer, on 8 November, he is alleged to have wired himself $3.9m. Foster is believed to have used fake numbers on instructions for the transfers to make the payments look legitimate. Loretta Lynch, US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said: "The defendant allegedly used his knowledge of bank operations to commit the ultimate inside job. We are committed to ensuring the integrity of the banking system and to prosecuting those who would undermine it for their personal gain." Foster supervised a derivatives unit and worked in the internal treasury finance department, which funds loans and other business transactions inside Citigroup. He faces up to 30 years in jail if convicted.