Trader Pleads Guilty to Threatening Securities Officials

July 19, 2011 at 10:25 AM

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Vince McCrudden, a former money manager and commodities trader, on Monday pleaded guilty to charges that he threatened on the Internet to kill more than 40 financial regulators, including Mary Schapiro, head of the SEC, and Gary Gensler, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Reuters reported that McCrudden, principal and CEO of Alnbri Management, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in response to two counts of transmission of threats to injure. The plea came the day testimony was scheduled to begin in his trial. AdvisorOne had reported in January that McCrudden had returned from Singapore, where he was living, to answer the charges.

The indictment cited one threatening post as saying, "These people have got to go! And I need your help, there are just too many for me alone." In addition to Schapiro and Gensler, McCrudden also threatened officials at the National Futures Association and FINRA—47 people in all.

Last September he sent an e-mail to Daniel Driscoll, NFA's executive vice president and COO, that said, "It wasn't ever a question of 'if' I was going to kill you, it was just a question of when."

In a statement, Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said, "This defendant crossed the line when he directly threatened to kill public officials who were working to keep our financial markets fair and open, and invited others to join him."

McCrudden, who spent more than 20 years on Wall Street, according to his company bio, could spend 10 years behind bars. His attorney, Bruce Barket, characterized him as "a talented, decent guy who will find other work."

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