Matthew Goldstein
Sassano, meanwhile, also worked at the same company as at least two other brokers caught up in the mutual fund scandal: He worked at Lehman at the same time as Theodore Sihpol and Frederick O'Meally, according to broker records.
O'Meally was recently fired from Prudential's office in Garden City, N.Y., and is the subject of a separate investigation by Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission into allegations of market-timing. Sources said that Sassano and O'Meally are close friends. But O'Meally's attorney, Peter Fleming, said Sassano's name has never come up in any conversations he's had about his client. Sihpol, a former Bank of America(BAC Quote - Cramer on BAC - Stock Picks) broker, was one of the first individuals to be criminally charged in the mutual fund investigation. Spitzer's office claims the former broker helped place illegal late trades for Canary Capital Partners, the New Jersey hedge fund that has been at the center of the mutual fund trading investigation. Sihpol, before joining Bank of America in December 2000, also worked at CIBC World Markets for two years, during the same period Sassano was there. Sihpol's lawyer, John Gallagher, declined to comment. Some people who know Sassano said these connections to other brokers embroiled in the scandal are pure coincidence. Perhaps they are, but investigators aren't so sure.
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