Hernan Arbizu has been arrested in Argentina on charges that he stole $5 million from the accounts of customers at UBS AG and JPMorgan Chase

Hernan Arbizu was arrested Monday in Buenos Aires on charges filed in U.S. District Court in May.Arbizu was a vice president in the private banking division at JPMorgan when he embezzled the money between March 2007 and April 2008, prosecutors said. He caused $5.37 million to be transferred out of private banking accounts at the UBS (nyse: UBS - news - people ) and JPMorgan financial services companies during that time, they said.Arbizu was responsible for maintaining and developing private banking relationships in Latin America at the time, court papers said.It wasn't immediately clear who would represent Arbizu on charges of embezzlement, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.U.S. authorities were seeking to extradite Arbizu to New York.If convicted, Arbizu, 41, could face up to 30 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines.A spokesman for JPMorgan, which fired Arbizu in May, said the company "appreciates the cooperation and the prompt joint action of the Argentine and American authorities."

Posted in: JPMorgan