Wednesday, April 6, 2011

"Are you a tra- trader if you want to burn money?" - Max Headroom

NJ - Federal prosecutors accused a corporate lawyer and a trader of stealing confidential information about pending mergers and other deals from three prominent law firms in a decades-long scheme that resulted in (they were not just making a little pin money on the side) more than $32 million of profits.

The defendants allegedly used pay phones and prepaid phones paid with cash in order to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities and suspended the alleged scheme for a six-year period out of fear that their alleged criminal activity might be detected, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey... 

Mr. Bauer then promised to financial support the co-conspirator if he was charged, saying: "I am sitting with over $20 million in the bank," according to the criminal complaint. He also told him to burn $175,000 from a recent deal, prosecutors said.

"You know what, if you feel better burn the money and I'll give it back to you," Mr. Bauer said, according to the complaint. 

"Burn it?" the co-conspirator said.

"I would burn it...if there is any chance of us getting caught on that," Mr. Bauer said.