US: Appeals court challenges bid-rigging convictions of ex GE banking execs

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reportedly questioned an earlier conviction of three ex-banking executives at a General Electric unit on Tuesday while hearing arguments the convictions should be tossed.

The three executives – Dominick Carollo, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm – were found guilty in 2012 of rigging bids for municipal bond investment contracts. The GE Capital bankers were accused of conspiring with traders to submit low bids for the contracts, according to reports.

But the three-judge panel in New York reportedly seemed opened to lawyers’ arguments that the convictions should be tossed on grounds the indictments were filed past the statute of limitations.

A jury indicted the men on July 27, 2010 but lawyers argue that the contracts accused of being rigged were awarded before July 27, 2005 – and before the five year statute of limitations.

Government prosecutors, however, argue that the bid-rigging continued as the executives’ employers paid the artificially low interest rates to municipalities.

Full Content: WTAQ

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