Despite donating plenty of money to hospitals and other local institutions, Steve Cohen wasn’t getting the benefit of the doubt from all his neighbors in leafy Old Greenwich, Conn.
“It’s a shame,” said Bobo Delia, a bartender at the Beach House Café, a short drive from Cohen’s SAC Capital, in nearby Stamford. “You would like to think that people in his position got to where they are by doing things right, not by cheating.”
“It’s strange that he’s not indicted,” said Peter Streich, a retired sales manager who was shopping at Bennett Jewelers, located a few doors down Sound Beach Ave. from the café. “You might assume that he knows the details.”
“I think he should be punished for his transgressions,” he added.
Some were more cautious in assigning blame. Staff at the local Coldwell Banker pointed out that the case is in its early stages — but quickly added that if SAC were forced to lay off many of its 1,000 employees, the town would feel it.
One young mother, who identified herself as an employee of SAC, appeared not to let the indictment keep her from a round of golf. Asked about the indictment as she approached, toddler in tow, the lavish Greenwich Country Club around 3 p.m. — just two hours after the indictment was announced by US Attorney Preet Bharara — she said, “I work there but I can’t comment — and you’re not going to get anyone else here to talk either.”