Former BlackRock vice-president, Hamdan Azhar, filed a lawsuit against the asset manager for US$20 million, claiming he was fired after objecting to a colleague’s self-dealing. Azhar alleged that he was forced to shut down a search engine, Trend Spotter, which monitored client discussions about illegal investments, including in China. He was terminated after raising concerns about a US$2 million contract awarded to a company owned by a former boss’s spouse, calling it “illegal self-dealing.”
Azhar also accused BlackRock of ignoring potential unethical client discussions that Trend Spotter could have tracked. Despite developing the project in March 2021, he was fired in 2022 due to alleged poor performance and unprofessional conduct.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and involves other former employees now working at JPMorgan Chase and Fidelity Investments. BlackRock denied the allegations, stating they comply with US laws regarding investments.
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