US News

AG GRABS HOLD OF GOV’S FAVORITE WEAPON

ALBANY – The statute invoked by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in his investigation into the state pension fund is so powerful that it’s been dubbed by some critics as a “weapon of mass destruction.”

The wide-ranging Martin Act is probably best known as the strongest tool used by Gov. Spitzer when he was attorney general to take on Wall Street.

The 1921 measure gives the AG broad powers that often mirror those of a grand jury to probe the fraudulent purchases or sales of securities anywhere within the state, experts say.

Most important, it allows the AG’s Office to bring criminal charges in addition to civil charges.

The AG, under the statute, can choose to conduct a public investigation, or to invoke ultra-secrecy. Anyone leaking secret testimony could face misdemeanor charges.

It grants the AG’s Office the power to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and documents and allows investigators to thwart someone from pleading the Fifth Amendment by automatically granting immunity from prosecution, which requires them to testify or face a contempt charge.

Those testifying do not have an automatic right for an attorney to be present, much like with a grand-jury proceeding.