Bear Stearns Execs Acquitted in N.Y. Fraud Trial

Written by admin on November 11, 2009 – 5:02 am

The criminal trial of two former Bear Stearns executives, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, ended with a not guilty verdict on all charges Tuesday.

On left, Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, in a June 19, 2008 file photo in New York…. On left, Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, in a June 19, 2008 file photo in New York. On right, Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Ralph Cioffi,in a June 19, 2008 file photo in New York. Both men have now been acquitted of criminal charges in relation to their work at the collapsed investment firm. (Louis Lanzano/AP Photos)

The high flying money managers were charged with securities fraud and would have faced 20 years in prison if convicted.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., reached its verdict in the month-long trial of the hedge fund managers after less than six hours of deliberations.

“Of course, we are disappointed by the outcome in this case, but the jurors have spoken, and we accept their verdict,” Benton J. Campbell, the prosecutor handling the case, said in a written statement.

In a 28-page indictment of 53-year-old Cioffi and 47-year-old Tannin, the government alleged that both men knew their hedge funds were “at risk of collapse” but “rather than disclosing the true state of the Funds … agreed to make misrepresentations in the ultimately futile hope that the Funds’ bleak prospects would change.”

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