Stefan R. Seuss, a German national living in Miami, was charged with conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison on the charge, said the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia, which brought the case.
Seuss, arrested by FBI agents at his home Wednesday, agreed to be transferred to Philadelphia.
His arrest, along with that of financial adviser Thomas R. Meyer, of Omaha, was part of an international probe of K1, investigated for possibly foisting some $400 million in losses on several major U.S. and European banks, The Miami Herald reported.
The banks include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Britain's Barclays PLC and France's BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA, the Herald said.
Lawyers for Seuss and Meyer had no immediate comment.
Police in Germany also raided the home of K1 founder Helmut Kiener Wednesday as part of the global criminal investigation into K1.
State prosecutor Dietrich Geuder said Thursday Kiener was awaiting a hearing and another unidentified suspect was being investigated.
Kiener had claimed on his Web site a growth rate of more than 844 percent since 1996, the year he began K1.
K1 had no immediate comment on the case. Barclays and BNP, France's largest bank, said they were cooperating with law enforcement officials. Societe Generale said its exposure was "negligible." JPMorgan had no immediate comment.
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