| Featured Guest Gary J. Aguirre Co-hosted by Jack Girardi | | Print | |
| Friday, 12 September 2008 17:00 | ||||
Featured Guest:
Gary J. Aguirre is a former public defender in San Diego who later had a successful private practice and recently worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was fired by the SEC in September 2005, after questioning preferential treatment for John Mack, an influential Wall Street executive. A routine check of Wall Street activities by Gary turned up a curious spate of heavy trading by a company called Pequot. In one series of transactions, Pequot—a giant hedge-fund operator—bought an unusual number of shares in a company called Heller Financial, shortly before the latter was bought out by G.E. The move was a windfall for Pequot. The curious Pequot moves ended up on Gary’s desk. It didn’t take him long to realize something questionable was going on. It was clear to Gary a cover up was taking place, and so he went to Congress and captured the attention of Republican Senators Charles Grassley (Iowa) and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania)—on the Judiciary and Financial Committees—who opened hearings into the SEC’s handling of the Pequot investigation. The senators chastised the SEC for its woeful handling of that case and its investigative capacity in general. As a result of the Senate hearings, the SEC reopened the Pequot case and, in fact, subpoenaed John Mack (though by the time he testified, the statute of limitations on the Pequot case had expired by five days). Grassley and Specter went on to make a list of recommendations regarding SEC procedure. A subsequent U.S. Senate report sided with Gary, saying the SEC showed "undue deference" to Wall Street power brokers in the probe. Brought to you by "America's Premier Lawyers" Contact:
Gary J. Aguirre
Steve Murphy |
