Securities trader is convicted of fraud for lying to customers about price he paid for residential mortgage-backed securities. Trader: That was standard industry practice; buyers of such securities are sophisticated enough to not be misled by such tactics. Second Circuit (2015): Man’s got a point. New trial. (In 2017, he’s acquitted on nine of 10 counts.) Second Circuit (2018): New trial on the one remaining charge—and let him out of prison. The district court erred in allowing a bond buyer’s testimony that he (erroneously and unfoundedly) believed defendant was his agent.
