New York Securities Lawyer Blog

Opening statements in the criminal trial of Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, the former portfolio managers for the Bear Stearns High Grade Funds, start today in federal court in Brooklyn, NY. The High Grade Funds imploded in 2007 causing $1.4 billion in investor losses. Prosecutors have charged Cioffi and Tannin with securities fraud and Cioffi with insider trading. The media coverage so far has focused almost exclusively on emails sent by Cioffi and Tannin regarding their personal thoughts about the Funds. The government alleges that Cioffi and Tannin thought the Funds were in serious trouble but then told investors on conference calls that everything was fine. While emails are often sexy and this is an important part of the case, the defense will likely argue that the email quotes were taken out of context and that the portfolio managers were simply analyzing the prospects of the Funds and were not intentionally lying to investors.

The press has not focused much on two just as important aspects of the prosecution’s case which should be easier to prove. First, according to the prosecutors, on the investor conference calls, the managers told investors that there was a lesser amount of investor redemptions in the High Grade Funds than there actually were. Here, the government can argue that Cioffi and Tannin clearly knew how much in redemptions were put in by investors yet they told investors a different number so investors wouldn’t run for the exits. The redemption amounts are undisputed facts and much less susceptible to defense spinning.

Second, the prosecutors allege that Cioffi and Tannin used their personal investments in the Funds as part of their pitch to investors, to invest in, and stay invested in the Funds. In early 2007, the government alleges Tannin told investors he was adding to his position. Also, Cioffi redeemed $2 million of his own personal monies in 2007 and did not notify investors. The government can argue that Tannin lied to investors about his own personal investments in order to keep them in the Funds. Also, that Cioffi, because he used his own personal investments in the Funds as a marketing tool, wilfully omitted his $2 million personal redemption in order to induce investors to stay in the Funds. The longer the Funds were alive, the better chance Cioffi and Tannin could continue to reap their multi million dollar annual bonuses.

Matthew Tannin, the former Bear Stearns High Grade Fund portfolio manager, kept a personal diary of e-mails to himself in a G-Mail account. The U.S. Attorney’s Office received the e-mails after using a search warrant on Google. According to e-mails released by prosecutors yesterday, Tannin wrote in as early as November 2006 that the funds “could blow up”. U.S. District Judge Frederic Block said at a hearing that he will likely allow prosecutors to introduce the newly obtained e-mails as evidence at Tannin’s trial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office apparently has not finished reviewing all of the e-mails.

These e-mails could be extremely helpful in the government’s case against Tannin. His trial is set for Oct. 13. The prosecutors can use Tannin’s e-mails to show his knowledge and intent that Tannin and a co-defendant Ralph Cioffi misled clients about the funds.

The e-mails may also be helpful for the many investors who have pending securities arbitration cases against Bear Stearns (our firm has multiple, significant arbitrations pending at FINRA). Since the notebook and Tablet PC of Cioffi and Tannin have gone missing, Tannin’s newly discovered personal e-mail diary may be investors only chance to look into Tannin’s thoughts regarding the funds.

The Bear Stearns High Grade Funds blew up in the early summer of 2007, precipitating the the credit crisis around the world. On October 13, 2009, in federal court in Brooklyn, NY, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, the portfolio managers of the High Grade Funds, will be facing criminal trial on fraud and conspiracy charges. Cioffi has also been charged with insider trading. This is the first major criminal trial stemming from the subprime mortgage era. It will be closely watched around the world. The U.S. Attorneys’ Office of the Eastern District of New York recently won a huge trial against former Credit Suisse broker Eric Butler who was convicted of fraudulently selling millions of dollars of auction rate securities. The Brooklyn jury convicted Butler of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and he faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. A major battle is being fought over whether the prosecutors can introduce evidence that a Tablet PC and a notebook of Cioffi and Tannin disappeared and about Cioffi’s lavish lifestyle.