Spitzer's Charges Face a Challenge

By Brooke A. Masters, Washington Post

Theodore C. Sihpol III is fighting back.

For more than three years now, New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer has been reshaping the financial services industry, forcing out players he considers bad apples and extracting billions of dollars in fines from mutual fund companies, stock analysts and others in the industry.

Industry insiders and defense lawyers complain he is overstepping his role and violating constitutional principles of due process. But almost no one he has gone after has challenged his office in front of a jury. Until now.

Former Bank of America Corp. securities broker Sihpol is expected to take on Spitzer when he goes to trial today on 40 criminal charges for his role in helping a hedge fund place after-hours trades that Spitzer says are illegal. Sihpol is not the only one of Spitzer’s targets fighting back. Former New York Stock Exchange chief Dick Grasso is challenging Spitzer’s effort to make him return his $139.5 million in retirement compensation. But Sihpol’s case is the first to go before a jury, and, unlike Grasso, he is facing criminal charges.

For this complete story, please visit Spitzer’s Charges Face a Challenge.