Federal prosecutors ended their case against Frank Quattrone Friday after reading back testimony from the former banker's first obstruction of justice trial, which ended last year in a hung jury.
Quattrone, former head of the technology banking unit at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), is charged with seeking to destroy evidence related to how CSFB allocated initial public offerings (IPOs) in the high-flying tech sector in the 1990s.
In late 2000, Quattrone forwarded a co-worker's e-mail that urged others at CSFB to throw out old files. A grand jury and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating CSFB over how IPOs were allocated, and the case hinges on how much of a role Quattrone played in the allocation process.
Prosecutors are seeking to show Quattrone would have known that files which the e-mail earmarked for destruction contained information related to IPO allocations and the investigation.
Quattrone has said that when he fowarded the e-mail, he was unaware that files relating to any investigation were being kept in his department. He resigned from CSFB last year.
In his first trial, Quattrone denied making decisions about who received IPO allocations, although he conceded that he did have some influence on those who did.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Peikin and David Anders, rather than a court clerk, conducted the read back.
From the transcript of the first trial, Quattrone denied having "any responsibility for making decisions" about the allocation of IPOs. But when asked under cross examination if he "did participate in the process of IPO allocations," Quattrone's response in the transcript was "Yes."
Quattrone's lawyers have not said whether their client will take the stand in this trial. Meanwhile, their motion to have the case dismissed after the prosecution rested — a common tactic in criminal cases — was rejected by the judge.
