Salomon explains share sale

The Maxwell Trial; Day 65

Salomon Brothers, the American investment bank, understood that Teva shares belonged to the pension funds when they were asked to sell a portfolio of investments for the Maxwell group, the Old Bailey fraud trial heard yesterday.

Mr Najib Kheraj, chief financial officer for the bankers, said the request to sell the Teva shares came from Kevin Maxwell in September 1991 - two months before the death of Robert Maxwell.

Richard Lissack QC, prosecuting, asked how Mr Kheraj knew that they probably belonged to the pension funds. He replied that he might have spoken to Kevin about it.

He had also been aware of a report prepared at the time of the Mirror Group's flotation that the Maxwells had a big investment in Teva.

In addition, he had seen a note about the Robert Maxwell group that indicated the pension funds owned 18 per cent of the Teva shareholding

Shortly afterwards he was asked by Kevin to give him a valuation of Scitex shares. Kevin did not explain why he wanted the valuation.

Kevin pleads not guilty to conspiring with his father to defraud the pension funds by misuse of its pounds 100m investment in Scitex. He and his brother, Ian, and former Maxwell group director Larry Trachtenberg also all deny conspiracy to defraud over misuse of the pension funds' investment in Teva.

The trial was adjourned to today.