A huge US hedge fund borrowed $120 million to settle a bribery case

Courtesy Gulfstream

Och-Ziff, a US hedge fund managing $42 billion (£28.75 billion) worth of assets, has borrowed over $100 million to settle a bribery case with government officials that is expected to cost more than $200 million in total.

The firm has been under investigation by the US Department of Justice since 2014 on suspicion of bribery of African governments including Congo and Libya.

The Financial Times reported that the firm borrowed $120 million in 2014 to help pay for a potential settlement with the Department of Justice.

In the same year, however, Och-Ziff also took out a $49 million loan to buy a private jet.

A spokesman for the Och-Ziff declined to comment on the report.

The firm disclosed the investigation in 2014, and since then its shares have more than halved in value. In April, Reuters reported that the final settlement could reach $400 million.

Och-Ziff, which was founded in 1994, is one of the world’s largest publicly traded hedge funds.

Here’s the chart of its share performance over the past seven years:

Investing

The firm disclosed in its 2014 annual report that its founder, Daniel Och, used the jet “from time to time,” the FT said.