Crooks Show How Not to Cover Tracks

When destroying evidence, try to be discreet about it
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 9, 2011 12:27 PM CST
Crooks Show How Not to Cover Tracks
Hiding his face beneath a red hooded jacket, hedge fund portfolio manager Donald Longueuil leaves federal court Tuesday in New York.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

It's bad enough two hedge fund managers have been charged with insider trading, but they're also being ridiculed for incompetence in trying to cover up their alleged misdeeds: “The evidence laid out in the complaint is largely the defendants’ own words," an FBI official tells the New York Times. “For all their presumed sophistication, they lacked a mobster’s better-honed instincts for conversational discretion." To which the Daily Intel blog responds: "Just to be clear, you're admonishing them for not being better criminals?"

One is on record telling a crony-turned-informant via text to head into the office and "shred as much as u can." The other used pliers to destroy his hard drive, disposed of it on a late-night walk around New York City, then blabbed all about it to a different crony-turned-informant. Helpful advice from the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog: "Memo to potential evidence-destroyers: If you find yourself suddenly needing to shred a bunch of documents or throw a hard-drive in a trash compactor, don’t later tell anyone about your plans or what you’ve done. Ever. Unless you’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the person and they’re completely naked." Click for more.
(More insider trading stories.)

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