There’s going to be plenty of mud-slinging today in Manhattan federal judge Richard Sullivan’s courtroom.
That’s because Jesse Tortora, the government’s first key witness in an insider-trading case against two hedge-fund managers, will be cross-examined — and the stakes are high.
Stephen Fishbein, the defense lawyer for Tortora’s former boss at Diamondback Capital, Todd Newman, is seeking to convince the jury that Tortora is merely seeking to “scapegoat” his client in a bid for leniency.
The tactic could work given the dearth of direct evidence showing Newman knew the tips provided by Tortora were tainted.
The feds have accused Newman and Anthony Chiasson, co-founder of Level Global, of making $62 million on illegal tips they got from their research analysts.