John Havens, the non-executive chairman of Napier Park Global Capital, will retire from the alternatives firm after being implicated in a multimillion-dollar human trafficking and prostitution operation.
Havens, who joined Napier Park in January 2014, is the former president and chief operating officer of Citigroup. He wasn’t involved in the day-to-day management of the firm in his role at Napier Park, which runs credit, collateralized mortgage obligations, real assets, and private equity strategies.
The alternatives firm issued a statement to Institutional Investor on Friday stating that Havens would retire as non-executive chairman.
“The firm and its valued clients have benefited greatly from John’s vast experience and counsel,” the firm said. “He has contributed to the success of the firm and he will be missed. Havens did not have any management or investment responsibilities at Napier Park and is not an equity owner in the firm.”
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On Monday, Florida State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced that prosecutors had charged 25 individuals with soliciting prostitution. According to the Jupiter Police Department, Havens is one of the 25 individuals. The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, a $5,000 civil penalty, 100 hours of community service, and an educational program on the negative effects of prostitution and human trafficking.
Havens is best known for his role in stabilizing Citigroup in the wake of the financial crisis. Havens had joined Citigroup as chairman of Citigroup Alternative Investments after the bank’s 2007 acquisition of Old Lane, a multi-strategy hedge fund and private equity firm that Havens co-founded the year before.
Prior to founding Old Lane, Havens had a two decade career at Morgan Stanley, rising to global head of the institutional equity division and serving as a member of the firm’s management committee. He started his finance career as a trader of convertible securities at Kidder Peabody.
