Rocky Mountain News – A former government attorney told Congress on Wednesday that he was fired last summer after he tried to subpoena a prominent Wall Street executive to testify in aninsider-trading investigation of a major hedge fund.<\/p>\n
Attorney Gary Aguirre, who led the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into Pequot Capital Management Inc., said he was told by his supervisors that it would be difficult to obtain the subpoenas because the executive had “very powerful political connections.”<\/p>\n
The SEC was investigating whether the hedge fund had received a tip from an individual about an upcoming merger.<\/p>\n
“By mid-June, growing evidence pointed to one person, the former CEO of a large investment bank,” Aguirre said in written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n
Under questioning by committee members, he identified the executive as John Mack, who is the chairman and chief executive of investment house Morgan Stanley Inc.<\/p>\n
Morgan Stanley, one of the largest U.S. securities firms, said -Aguirre had provided no evidence to support his allegation against Mack.<\/p>\n
“No one has provided any evidence that Mr. Mack has engaged in any wrongdoing, and Mr. Aguirre provided none today,” firm spokeswoman Jeanmarie McFadden said from New York.<\/p>\n
Mack is an influential Wall Street figure and a major fundraiser for President Bush’s campaigns. At the time in question, he was chief executive of Credit Suisse First Boston.<\/p>\n