Does this anwer your question about tony's front running?
By Carol S. Remond . Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES .
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Robert Hansen now says that what he, and others, did on the Anthony Elgindy's private investing Web site was illegal. But when Hansen, the site's former webmaster, first testified in front a grand jury in 2002 about what was happening on the site, he had a different story.
"You told the government (in testimony Monday) one thing and you told the grand jury another. How do we know" what is true?, defense lawyer Joel Isaacson asked Tuesday during his cross-examination of Hansen.
On Monday Hansen had testified for the government in the criminal trial of Elgindy and former FBI special agent Jeffrey Royer in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
Elgindy and Royer were charged in May 2002 with several counts of securities fraud, market manipulation and extortion. The government alleges that Royer would share information he obtained from confidential Federal Bureau of Investigation databases with Elgindy and others, and that they would trade on the insider information.
Hansen told jurors Monday that on several occasions, he traded on confidential information obtained from Royer. He said that he knew that it was illegal.
Elgindy's lawyer Isaacson questioned Hansen Tuesday and highlighted how the witness' story changed over time. "Did you indicate to the grand jury that you didn't think that (Elgindy) would front run?" Isaacson asked Hansen. Hansen had told jurors Monday that he thought that Elgindy would trade ahead of the advice he would give members of his Web site, a practice known as front running. On Tuesday, Hansen answered Isaacson's question by saying: "my understanding is that he didn't trade against the site. But I think he may have."
Isaacson is expected to complete his cross-examination of Hansen after the lunch recess. The witness will then be questioned by Royer's lawyer, Lawrence Gerzog.
Hansen hosted and managed Anthonypacific.com, Elgindy's private investing Web site, from late 1999 until Elgindy's arrest in May 2002.
On Monday, federal Judge Raymond Dearie quashed a subpoena by Elgindy's defense lawyers to have access to a 48-page letter written by Hansen's lawyer in early 2003. In that letter, the lawyer argued that Hansen shouldn't be charged in the case since there was insufficient evidence to convict him. Hansen said Monday that he made false statements to the FBI and the grand jury when he first testified in 2002.
Hansen was charged in March 2003 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Other defendants are scheduled to be tried separately.
-By Carol S. Remond, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2074; carol.remond@dowjones.com .
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 23, 2004 14:33 ET (19:33 GMT)- - 02 33 PM EST 11-23-04 |
