By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 21 – In the wake of the Archegos meltdown, the other shoe dropped on April 27, when the US Attorney for the SDNY unsealed and indictment charging Bill Hwang Patrick Halligan, Archegos’s CFO with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud offenses.
Inner City Press went to the SDNY press conference to ask, What about Credit Suisse and Nomura and people in those banks? What about the massive family office loophope to the Investment Advisors Act of 1940? This has come up in the OneCoin fraud case, on which the Office used perjured testimony and now agrees to delay after delay.
Damian William referred obliquely to Hwang doing it in the dark, but otherwise the issue - which is addressed by a pending bill in Congress - did not come up. Nor did Lisa Monaco, present in New York for the presser, address it.
On June 1, newly assigned District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein held a conference in the case. Inner City Press attended and live tweet it here (and asked defense counsel a question later, here). Thread here.
And after, stand-up here, short Q&A here.
On June 20, 2023 Judge Hellerstein pushed the trial back: "Trial in the above-captioned criminal matter, by request of all parties, is adjourned from January 9, 2024 to February 20, 2024 at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom 14D. The Final Pretrial Conference will be held on February 14, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. Time is excluded in the interest of justice from January 9, 2024 to February 20, 2024 pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161. SO ORDERED (Signed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on 6/20/2023)."
On July 27, Hwang wrote in seeking approval of subpoenas to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of Montreal, Credit Suisse, UBS, Nomura, MUFG, Mizuho, Macquarie, Jeffries and Deutsche Bank, to show he did not "use his lawfully executed swaps to artificially impact the prices of the underlying stocks."
Jump cut to November 14, 2023 when Judge Hellerstein held an oral argument on the subpoena requests. Inner City Press attended, in mask, and tweeted, threadette:
Hwang is here at defense table, with COVID mask and foyr lawyers at table, one behind.
Judge Hellerstein: Manipulation for manipulation is meaningless. How was it intended to make money? When? There are many different ways to hedge. I'd like to see them narrowed
Berke: Your Honor, you've done a lot of cases, but this is the 1st one in which DOJ is charging manipulation of swaps
Judge: It's hard to defend against manipulation. Mr Berke deserves a discussion. US v Nixon provides the boundary.
Berke: Thank you
And well he might say that - it seemed the defense won this round. He mocked what he called the prosecution's theory of "pump and brag," that Hwang did it to brag he'd built a family office into a major firm.
On January 3, 2024, still mostly masked, Judge Hellerstein said the proposed experts are qualified, that sufficient notice is the issue. He said he will follow Judge Jed Rakoff's decision in US v. Mrabet, which Inner City Press also covered. At the end Judge Hellerstein said, with a laugh, Don't settle this case, I want to try it.
More details on Substack here
On May 1, 2024, the US Attorney's Office wrote in to specify that at trial they intend to put forward evidence about Archegos' predecessor Tiger Asia, including that the SEC banned Hwang from acting, among other things, as an investment adviser.
On May 6, Halligan's counsel wrote in that the evidence should not be admitted at trial, as little of it involves Halligan but he would be prejudiced by it.
On May 15 in the trial, Mr. Marks of Operations testified about reports only to Bill and Patrick, then Mr. Jones about flying from Dallas amid the meltdown. Thread here
On May 21, the US insisted that evidence of Hwang's "decision not to reimburse employees for lost deferred compensation" should remain in evidence before the jury."
Full letter on Patreon here.
On May 22, Inner City Press live tweeted cross examination of cooperator Becker, here. In the midst of it, an announcement by Judge Hellerstein of the birth of a baby, and applause in the courtroom (it's in the thread).
On May 23, Becker continued - from the thread:
Becker is asked about his message, "Whatevs, we'll just roll with it."
Counsel: Turning to your lost vacation days, Mr. Becker, you felt you had never worked harder than at Archegos, isn't that true? Becker: Yes.
Counsel: You had 3 weeks of vacation - couldn't carry it over and you were angry, right? Becker: Correct.
Halligan's lawyer: You didn't want Mr. Halligan involved in your project, did you? He called you careless-
Judge Hellerstein: Haven't we gone over this? It's done. Finished. Halligan's lawyer: You felt he didn't show appreciation Judge Hellerstein: Move on
Now re-direct: AUSA: Mr. Becker, Mr. Berke didn't show you this sheet, did he? Objection! Overruled. Becker: He didn't.
AUSA: You were asked some questions about conversations with Mr. Halligan. Why was it so frantic? Let me off this March 23 chat, 3745
Judge Hellerstein: Jurors, have a good weekend. [Jurors leave] Defense: Can we discuss schedule for next week? Judge: Tues and Wed 10 to 5. Can't say about Thursday. Government, how are we doing?
AUSA: We expected Becker 1 week, on schedule
Judge Hellerstein: Done in 2 weeks? AUSA: That's aggressive. Adjourned.
On May 28, the US Attorney's Office filed a letter seeking permission in advance to ask "what if you had known" questions of the type blessed by the 2d Circuit in US v. Cuti (2013), starting with Bank of Montreal's Joseph Boccuzzi on May 29. Letter on Patreon here
May 29 ended with a dispute about a government chart, long and short positions, which Hwang's lawyer Berke called argumentative, from the thread
On June 5, Inner City Press live tweeted, thread
On June 6, government expert testified about, among other things, dark pools, thread
On June 10, cooperation William Tomita began on the stand, from thread:
Tomita: Yes. They were traders, executing the trades on behalf of Bill. Bill would yell at me, Don't list to Andy, you answer to me
On June 11, Tomita continues. From thread:
On June 14 to start the trial day after a two day hiatus, counsel for Halligan complained about Bank of America witness / issue, thread.
On June 17, Tomita still on the stand, thread
Scheduling: In US v. Hwang (Archegos) case, Judge Hellerstein was just asked about when closing arguments will / can be. He said he'll tell the jury they will *try* to finish before July 1 - one juror has to end then, or be replaced - but closings on July 8 were also floated
On June 18, Tomita was on the cross, thread
On June 20, after Juneteenth, Tomita was on cross, thread
On June 121, yet more Tomita cross, Inner City Press was there, from the thread:
OK - now Friday in US v. Hwang of Archegos, cooperator Tomita *still* on the stand, testifying about Chinese stocks, cross by Hwang's' lawyer Berke.
Hwang's lawyer Berke: Do you recall that you bought shares of TME in your personal account on February 4? Tomita: I don't remember the timing. Berke: Why did you invest in TME? Tomita: I believed Bill that it was a good investment.
Hwang's lawyer Berke: I want to ask you about pre-market trading - at Archegos in the 2020 to 2021 period, there would be AM notes on the stocks Archegos was invested in?
Tomita: I know we published them before COVID but I think we got too busy \
Hwang's lawyer Berke: Here's an April 2020 AM note.
Judge: Admitted... Excuse me, I need a personal minute. Berke: Of course, Judge.
Back on March 21, 2023 Judge Hellerstein held an hour and a half proceeding in which he denied more than a dozen motions by Team Hwang. Inner City Press was there and live tweeted, thread here.
More including on Halligan on Substack here.
Later - after re-up of book and talk to NYU Journalism School, here and here - in the SDNY Magistrate a defendant was detained until trial, charged as a felon in possession. We'll have more, much more, on this.
The case is US v. Hwang, 22-cr-240 (Hellerstein)
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