Criminal

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The credit crisis may get its first formal criminal charges against Wall Street execs in coming days, according to a published report Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors are preparing to charge two former Bear Stearns & Cos. managers with securities fraud tied to the well-publicized implosion of two hedge funds at the company that served to mark the start of the credit crunch on the Street.

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The U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn is set to unveil charges as early as this week, the Journal said, once the investigation is completed. At issue is whether the two men painted a rosier picture for investors than they knew to be true privately. Cioffi is alleged to have publicly pushed calm to investors in April, while expressing grave concern with colleagues internally over email. He also moved $2 million of his own investment in one of the troubled funds out in March, before any trouble became widely known.