DOJ Intervenes in Muni-Bond Civil Suit

A safe assumption is that the DOJ wishes to keep certain things under wrap so the evidence has a good showing at the criminal trial. Of course after the non/exoneration of Bill Richardson and the Byzantine nature of these cases who can say what is really going on:

The department's antitrust unit is seeking to limit the pre-trial exchange of information among the parties in the civil lawsuit, according to a court order yesterday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein in Manhattan federal court. The 2008 lawsuit was brought by Mississippi, municipalities and other bond issuers.

The Justice Department previously filed criminal charges in a related bid rigging probe. In February, a former worker at CDR Financial Products Inc. pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bidding on investment contracts sold to local governments.

In the civil lawsuit, banks, brokers and dealers are accused of conspiring with one another to not compete and to rig bids for municipal derivatives sold to issuers of municipal bonds. The defendants allegedly allocated customers among themselves and fixed and stabilized prices, including the interest rates paid to issuers.

For a look at the civil suit check here. For more on the intervention check here.