Here's a interesting twist....;?)
mad2
The Associated Press
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press.
May 25, 2002, Saturday, BC cycle
SECTION: Domestic News
LENGTH: 353 words
HEADLINE: Judge "disregards" prosecutor's suggestion accused swindler knew Sept. 11 attacks were coming
BYLINE: By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
BODY:
A federal judge said he would disregard a prosecutor's suggestion that an Egyptian-born financial analyst charged in a nationwide stock swindle may have known about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and tried to profit from them.
Amr I. "Tony" Elgindy telephoned his broker on Sept. 10 and asked him to liquidate his children's $300,000 trust account, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Breen said Friday at Elgindy's detention hearing.
"He made a comment predicting the market would drop to 3,000" at a time when the Dow Jones stock index was at 9,600, Breen said. "Perhaps Mr. Elgindy had pre-knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. Instead of trying to report it, he tried to profit from it." Breen made his accusations as prosecutors tried to convince the judge that Elgindy was a flight risk and should be denied bail.
Magistrate Judge John Houston said he was going to "disregard" the suggestion that Elgindy had anything to do with the terror attacks.
Elgindy, 34, of Encinitas, was ordered held without bond on charges of racketeering, extortion and obstruction of justice.
Elgindy did not speak during the hourlong hearing.
His attorney, Jeanne Knight, said Elgindy did call his broker to make a trade, but the timing was coincidental and the market had been dropping for months. The broker was unable to liquidate the trust account until Sept. 18, she added.
"It seems like the government, for lack of factual evidence, has decided to smear my client with terrorist innuendoes," Knight said. "This is smacking of racial profiling."
Elgindy, one of five defendants in the case, was arrested May 22 on an indictment issued by a grand jury in New York.
In exchange for money, two FBI agents used confidential databases to provide Elgindy and other co-conspirators with information on publicly traded companies, the indictment said.
Elgindy allegedly spread negative information about the companies on his Web site and to subscribers of his e-mail newsletter, InsideTruth.com, while betting that the companies' stock would go down.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison.
LOAD-DATE: May 26, 2002 |
