A former Credit Suisse Group AG trader was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Friday for his role in a scheme to artificially inflate subprime mortgage bond prices. Kareem Serageldin, the bank's former global head of structured credit, pleaded guilty in federal court in New York in April to conspiracy to falsify books and records. The sentence was shorter than the up to five years in prison requested by prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan also ordered Serageldin to pay a fine of $150,000 on top of more than $1 million he agreed to forfeit. The judge acknowledged that Serageldin had already faced five years of investigations and prosecution, "its own form of punishment." Serageldin's lawyers had asked for no jail time, noting that he had surrendered $25.6 million in deferred compensation to Credit Suisse, about $20 million of which he earned before the years at issue. The lawyers also pointed out that Serageldin also agreed to settle a civil lawsuit
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