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Wall Street 'bad boy' talks about NY trial
June 24, 2011 - 4:45 PM
FILE - In this July 8, 2009 file photo, Ross H. Mandell, center, is escorted out of the federal building by authorities in New York. Mandell bills himself as Wall Street’s “bad boy” broker - a shameless self-promoter who brags about how he over-indulged in fast-lane excesses before getting sober and making a killing during the dot-com binge in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The FBI abruptly altered the aspiring reality TV star’s preferred storyline by arresting him on charges he was central to a $140 million securities fraud scheme. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — A former investment manager known as Wall Street's "bad boy" says he's relieved to finally reach trial on charges he cooked up a $140 million securities fraud scheme.
Ross Mandell told The Associated Press on Friday that he thinks a key government witness bombed on the stand. He also believes his chances for acquittal in Manhattan federal court are so good he won't need to testify in his own defense.
The government has portrayed the Brooklyn-born Mandell and a co-defendant as brazen con men who took advantage of the frenzy over Internet tech stocks in soliciting private investments in startups. Prosecutors allege the men spent the money on watches, cars and strippers.
Mandell said he never lied to his clients.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
(Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
