Bankers Busted Stealing Cafeteria Food, Bike Parts After Bonus Cuts Rock Wall Street

After the year stocks just had, millions of Americans should be feeling the ‘wealth effect.’ But for thousands of European bankers who saw their bonuses cut by as much as 20% for 2019, these are the equivalent of hard times for the 1%.

As a result, at least one banker with a purported ‘seven-figure pay packages’ has resorted to stealing from the company canteen just to quiet his rumbling stomach (or possibly because they simply forgot to pay after being distracted by work, honestly neither would surprise us).

According to the FT, Citigroup has suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London after accusing him of stealing from the company canteen.

Citigroup has suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London after the US investment bank accused him of stealing food from the office canteen.

Paras Shah abruptly left his post last month as Citi’s head of high-yield bond trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The bank suspended Mr Shah after alleging he had stolen food from the canteen at its European headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, according to four people familiar with the matter. Citi declined to comment.

Mr Shah declined to comment over email, referring inquiries to Citi.

Paras Shah has a reputation for being one of the most high-profile credit traders in Europe, stretching back to before he joined Citigroup back in 2017.

The 31-year-old was one of the highest-profile credit traders in Europe, having joined Citi in 2017 after about seven years at HSBC. His job entailed matching buyers and sellers of junk bonds – debt from companies judged to be riskier borrowers – with two former colleagues telling the Financial Times that he was a well-liked and successful trader.

Even more painful for Shah: He was suspended just weeks before bonuses were due, though it’s unclear how this might impact whether he will receive the bonus or not. Revenue in Citi’s FICC group soared during Q4, but the bank’s European bankers still saw bonuses reduced alongside most of their counterparts at European banks.

This isn’t the first time a big bank has punished a senior banker for petty theft. In 2016, Mizuho fired a London banker after he was caught stealing a small part from a colleague’s bike (the part was worth just £5).

And in 2014, Britain’s FCA banned a former BlackRock executive from working in senior roles after he was caught dodging the train fare for his daily commute (he ended up paying £43,000 for being one of the Tube’s most egregious scofflaws).