Nonprofit Groups Join Building Boom
The insider trading case against Paul Thayer is stunning evidence of what government regulators are up against in their drive to stop corporate executives from ripping off corporations and corrupting the stock market.</br></br>When Thayer resigned as deputy secretary of Defense 15 months ago, he denounced the charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission as ÛÏutterly without meritÛ and predicted that he would ÛÏultimately be exonerated.Û</br></br>But as the facts unfold in three civil and criminal proceedings, the only problem with the original SEC complaint turns out to be that it did not go far enough in detailing ThayerÛªs misdeeds. Rather than exoneration, Thayer is facing jail for obstruction of justice.</br></br>If he doesnÛªt serve time, no one accused of insider trading should ever go to jail. Of course, almost no one goes to jail for insider trading now. It is the obstruction charge that could put Thayer behind bars, not his * multimillion-dollar white collar crime. Federal prosecutors are urging U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey to throw the book at Thayer for what may be WashingtonÛªs worst coverup since Watergate.</br></br>Thayer lied to the FBI, the SEC and a grand jury, betrayed three corporations with which he was associated, made up phoney documents, urged his friends to help him cover his tracks and commit perjury, and used front men to hide his illegal investments, investigators said in recommending a prison sentence.