To: Janice Shell who wrote (88128 ) 11/18/2004 9:15:22 PM From: StockDung Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 122087 UPDATE: FBI Computer Specialist Testifies In Elgindy Case 729 words 18 November 2004 18:43 Dow Jones News Service English (c) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (Updates with government introducing more evidence beginning in ninth paragraph.) By Carol S. Remond Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Jurors in a Brooklyn courtroom Thursday were given a rare look into Federal Bureau of Investigation's confidential databases. Testifying for the government in the criminal case against trader Anthony Elgindy and former FBI special agent Jeffrey Royer, FBI information technology specialist William Long highlighted different components of the databases and their use to government agents. Long told jurors that he conducted a number of audits for the FBI documenting Royer and former special agent Lynn Wingate's use of FBI computers. Long said the databases include information about cases and individuals gathered by different field offices around the country. Elgindy and Royer were charged in May 2002 in the Eastern District for the District Court of New York with securities fraud, market manipulation and extortion. Wingate and others were also charged and will be tried separately. Prosecutors allege that Royer, and his then girlfriend Wingate, shared confidential information with others about investigations into small companies and their insiders and about an FBI terror investigation into Egyptian-born Elgindy. Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Levine, Long highlighted for the jury Royer's and Wingate's usage of two applications within the FBI database know as Automated Case Support, or ACS. Long showed jurors how Royer searched the FBI's Universal Index, or UNI, and Electronic Case File, or ECN, to run the names of companies and some of their shareholders or insiders. Derrick Cleveland, the government's first witness, testified in court that Royer would tap the FBI databases for information about companies and share it with him. Cleveland said that he and Royer had an agreement to share 50/50 any profits from the FBI's agent tips. Cleveland said he would often share the confidential information gathered by Royer with Elgindy, a well-known short seller, who would then share it with members of his private investing website. Cleveland, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud and is cooperating with the government, also said that Royer told him about an FBI investigation into Elgindy after the terror attacks on the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks. FBI computer specialist Long told jurors that the information accessed by Royer and Wingate isn't available to the public. The government introduced in evidence a long list of names and cases searched by Royer, many of which were also bandied about on Elgindy's Web site, according to chatlogs presented to jurors in previous days. Trying to make its case that FBI confidential information was leaked to Elgindy and others, the government introduced in evidence an envelope seized from the San Diego stock trader after his arrest. That envelope contained among other things a fax copy of a documents printed from the FBI database. Documents introduced in evidence Thursday also show that details about FBI investigations into A.J. Nassar, chief officer of a company called Floor Decor Inc., information that could only come from the bureau's confidential database, made its way onto Elgindy's private Web site within minutes after Royer performed FBI searches. Logs of Royer's and Wingate's use of the FBI database show that they were worried for themselves. The last name Royer ran on the database before leaving the FBI in December 2001 was his, and Wingate did the same in April 2002, days before her own arrest. Robert Hansen, Elgindy's former webmaster, took the witness stand after Long completed his testimony Thursday afternoon. Hansen hosted and managed Anthonypacific.com, Elgindy's private Web site from late 1999 until Elgindy's arrest in May 2002. Hansen was later charged in the criminal case against Elgindy and others and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He is cooperating with the government. Hansen is scheduled to resume his testimony on Monday. Chatlogs previously introduced in evidence show that Elgindy on several occasions asked Hansen to erase logs. The prosecution has suggested that Elgindy knew he was trading on insider information obtained from Royer and that he would ask Hansen to erase the logs to destroy any evidence of wrongdoing. - By Carol S. Remond; Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938 2074; carol.remond@dowjones.com [ 11-18-04 1843ET ]