White-collar cases become N.Y. specialty

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2004 | by Greg Farrell

NEW YORK -- The Justice Department is fighting corporate crime across the country, but it is ringing up some of its biggest victories in Manhattan.

The recent sentencing of former Credit Suisse First Boston investment banker Frank Quattrone to 18 months in prison caps a run of high-profile victories for federal prosecutors here. They also won convictions of Martha Stewart and former Adelphia Communications CEO John Rigas this year. All told, they have won 21 consecutive white-collar criminal cases at trials starting in January 2002. Exceptions: The case against one of Rigas' sons ended in a mistrial, and another Adelphia executive was acquitted.

The record has cemented the notion, widely held at the Securities and Exchange Commission and among defense lawyers, that...