Macon Telegraph – Martha Stewart complained that she was almost trampled by the scrum of reporters at her trial on charges she lied about a stock sale. Stephen J. Treadway\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s trial, in the sameManhattan federal court, was considerably quieter, although the civil charges against Treadway were of far greater importance to average investors.<\/p>\n
Treadway, former chairman of the board of trustees of the Pimco equity funds, was the defendant in the first mutual fund timing case to go to trial. On June 30, a jury found him liable for defrauding Pimco equity mutual fund investors through a market timing arrangement with hedge fund Canary Capital Partners LLC. Treadway faces possible civil penalties and other sanctions.<\/p>\n
The jury found that Treadway allowed a single wealthy investor to engage in a practice closed to everyone else, a practice that ate away at other investors\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 returns. It was only the latest chapter in the mutual fund market timing scandal, which first became public in 2003. Litigation and settlements continue, a reminder to investors that the mutual fund industry does not always act in the best interests of the little guy.<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cWhen you invest in a mutual fund, you are trusting that every investor, big or small, rich or poor, is going to be treated the same. That\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s not what happened at the Pimco equity fund,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d said Randall R. Lee, Regional Director of the SEC\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Pacific Regional Office in Los Angeles. Treadway\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s attorney did not return calls requesting comment.<\/p>\n