Retrial begins for former Credit Suisse banker
The former Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) banker, Frank Quattrone, returned to a New York courtroom on Tuesday for a second trial on charges of obstructing justice.
His original trial collapsed last October after jurors failed to agree on charges that Quattrone tried to hinder an investigation into stock allocation by his bank.
United States district judge Richard Owen – who oversaw the first trial and will preside over the second – declared a mistrial after jury members told him they were unable to reach a unanimous vote on two counts of obstruction and one count of witness tampering.
Quattrone helped make CSFB one of the world’s leading dealmakers on technology stocks and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
But the 48-year-old stands accused of telling his staff to destroy documents amid a regulatory investigation into the handling of stock offerings in the 1990s.
Legal dilemma
His lawyers must decide whether to put the one-time star banker on the witness stand this time around.
Quattrone took the stand during the second week of the original trial in a move that jurors later said hurt his chances of an acquittal.
“If he had not been sitting up there, he would have been found not guilty in two minutes,” said juror Mayo Villalona in October, adding that Quattrone seemed “evasive”.
Federal prosecutors in New York enter the retrial fresh from a victory in their highest-profile white-collar case – a conviction of US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart on charges of obstruction, conspiracy and lying to investigators.
Another case involving two former executives of US conglomerate Tyco – both of whom were accused of stealing some $600 million (SFr775 million) from the firm – ended in a mistrial earlier this month after newspapers published a juror’s name.
Defence lawyers representing Quattrone last week cited the Tyco case in asking the judge to keep the names of jurors selected for the second trial secret.
Owen rejected the request, but said he would consider ordering reporters not to name any jurors during the trial.
Evidence
The judge also ruled that jurors would not see evidence that the defence claims shows Quattrone was not fully informed by CSFB lawyers about the scope of investigations at the heart of the case.
Prosecutors must prove that the banker acted with criminal intent on December 5, 2000, when he endorsed a colleague’s email that urged employees to “catch up on file cleaning” by destroying some documents.
Quattrone – who once reportedly earned an annual salary of $100 million (SFr135 million) – maintains he was simply following CSFB policy, which required routine destruction of some outdated documents.
He parted ways with Switzerland’s second-largest bank at the start of 2003.
The prospect of a retrial is further unwelcome publicity for Credit Suisse.
“The case does not help the bank. It has tried very hard to clean up its act over the past few years,” said Reto Pieth, a Swiss journalist based in the US, in an interview with swissinfo at the start of the first trial in September.
“The Quattrone case is not a good thing for Credit Suisse because it brings back all the bad memories of the bank’s wrongdoings,” he added.
swissinfo with agencies
A mistrial was declared in October 2003 after jurors failed to agree on the charges.
A second trial on charges of obstructing justice started in New York on Tuesday.
The banker helped make CSFB one of the world’s leading dealmakers on technology stocks and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
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