I have been Tony Elgindy for almost 18 years at USC my ID said Tony , My First CA Drivers license issued back in 1985 said Tony... so Ms Remond all I did was make official what was unofficial after 18 years.....This is the Dear Anthony Thread isnt it?? and has been for 5 years.....
Do you not have anything more prodcutive to do and I hardly think that correcting the spelling of my Middle name is newsworthy....but so be it..
Knock yourself out....
Monday , September 29, 2003 13:42 ET
By Carol S. Remond
Of Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Amr Ibrahim Elgindy is now Anthony Abraham Elgindy.
The short seller, who faces criminal charges that he used nonpublic government information to manipulate the shares of companies, legally changed his name earlier this year in the San Diego Superior Court, North County Division.
Elgindy and four others are charged in a racketeering indictment in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. The government alleges that Elgindy, with the help of two former Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and two other traders, engaged in a variety of schemes to defraud investors.
Elgindy pleaded not guilty to the charges last year.
Unveiling what appears to be a new defense tactic, Elgindy last week filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, claiming that he was misled and entrapped by the government.
This is the second motion to dismiss filed by Elgindy. Earlier this year, he contended that the case should be thrown out because it was filed in the wrong venue.
In the latest motion filed last week and posted by Elgindy on the Silicon Investor Internet Board, Elgindy claims that he was unaware that information he received from FBI agent Jeffrey Royer was misappropriated from confidential government databases.
"Given the open nature of Mr. Elgindy's business dealings it was his understanding that any information Agent Royer shared with him was done so in compliance with the laws of the U.S. and the rules and policies of the FBI," according to the motion.
Royer, who is also charged in the Eastern District, pleaded not guilty. He is accused of having used confidential FBI databases to gather information used by Elgindy and others to guide short selling strategies. After he left the FBI in late 2001, Royer went to work with Elgindy in San Diego, Calif. Court testimony by a law enforcement officer shows that, after he lost access to government databases, Royer would call former colleagues and ask them to run the names of targeted individuals.
The government alleges that Elgindy knew that the information he received was confidential because on occasions he asked his webmaster, Robert Hansen, to remove reference to such information from the logs of websites Elgindy used to disseminate information about companies that he believed were overvalued.
Hansen was also charged in the case and pleaded guilty to one charge to commit securities fraud. As part of his plea, Hansen said that he and others "obtained material nonpublic information which they used to make decisions regarding whether to purchase or sell the stock of companies."
The motion filed by Elgindy last week also alleges that, because law enforcement agents aware of Elgindy's investigations of potential fraudulent companies, knew of his business activities and never informed him that he was breaking the law, Elgindy was in fact entrapped by the government.
"Mr. Elgindy acted in reasonable reliance on government conduct leading him to believe that his actions were lawful and reasonable," according to the motion.
Elgindy was on probation for a previous infraction at the time of his arrest last year and was under instruction by his probation officer to share information about his probe with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI, according to the motion.
"Mr. Elgindy was repeatedly misled into believing that his conduct was not only lawful, but he was duped into believing that he was working with the government," the motion said.
A hearing to consider the motion to dismiss filed by Elgindy, as well as other motions filed by his codefendants, is scheduled for Nov. 21.
Also charged in the case are former FBI agent Lynn Wingate, trader Troy Peters and hedge fund manager Jonathan Daws. All pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, trader Derrick Cleveland pleaded guilty to racketeering and is, like former webmaster Hansen, cooperating with the government.
-By Carol S. Remond; Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938 2074; carol.remond@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-29-03 1342ET
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