The world trade center bombing (1993), Bernie Ebbers, Martha Stewart...these a just a few of the notable (and in some cases, notably controversial) prosecutions that have taken place on the watch of outgoing New York U.S. Attorney, David Kelly:

Confessions of a corporate crime-fighter

By Stephanie Kirchgaessner
September 5 2005
The Financial Times

David Kelley is, in many respects, the archetypal American crime-fighter. The outgoing US attorney for the southern district of New York, a cop-turned-prosecutor whose deadpan expression, sharp features and steady gaze give little away except the sense that he is not one to be negotiated with, has successfully prosecuted headline-grabbing criminals of every variety.

They include terrorists such as Ramzi Yousef, for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Bernie Ebbers, the former WorldCom boss who is serving 25 years for the multibillion-dollar fraud at the telecommunications company.

He prosecuted Mr Ebbers this year, on little more evidence than the testimony of Scott Sullivan, the former WorldCom chief financial officer who admitted his role in the fraud. There is also his high-profile indictment of Martha Stewart, the home design icon who was found guilty of obstruction of justice and lying during the investigation of a crime – insider trading – that she was never charged with.

The cases make Mr Kelley something of an anomaly within the US justice system, which sets a notoriously difficult standard of evidence for the successful prosecution of white-collar crime...

Much more in the full article, which appears here (and requires a subscrip).

-- MDT

Labels: insider trading