NY Times
Trading Dispute Is Shrouded in Accusations of Bias
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Youssef Fakih attached a tape recorder to the telephone and pressed the record button before dialing his stockbroker.
Michael S. Cohen, sitting at his desk on the trading floor of Gruntal & Company, a midsize brokerage firm on East 42nd Street, answered on the first ring.
At first, Mr. Fakih and Mr. Cohen exchanged pleasantries. Then the conversation turned argumentative.
"I found out you lost the money purposely," said Mr. Fakih, who had lost more than a half-million dollars in just over a year and a half.
"I don't like liars," replied Mr. Cohen, who is Jewish. "You lied to me. You told me that you were Jewish."
Mr. Fakih, an Arab immigrant from Lebanon, then asked: "So in other words, if I was a Jewish, you wouldn't lose me money?"
"Listen, you are what you are," Mr. Cohen said. "And quite frankly, the fact that you lost money, I really don't care."
(cont Log in reqd.)
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