|
MDL suit won't be heard until July 2007
Ohio will have a new governor and likely a different attorney general before the state resolves its lawsuit against MDL Capital Management, the Pittsburgh-based investment adviser that lost $ 215 million in a Bermuda hedge fund. Lawyers for MDL and the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation expect the trial to begin in July 2007, approximately eight months after the 2006 election, according to last week's filing in U.S. District Court. "This is an especially complex case, so we don't want politics to overshadow justice here," said Mark Anthony, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro. "We'll abide by the schedule set by the court." Almost three months ago, Mr. Petro sued MDL and executives at Olympia Capital International, the hedge fund's administrator. Using bureau money, MDL sold short 30-year U.S. Treasury Bonds, figuring that the value of the bonds would drop as interest rates increased. The plan backfired, wiping out the majority of the bureau's $ 225 million investment by September 2004. Bureau officials hid the scope of these losses from the public for nine months. After a brief meeting with lawyers for the plaintiff and the defendants, the court will decide whether to follow the schedule proposed in last week's filing. ... Christopher Fairman, a professor at Ohio State University's law school, said there is a variety of reasons for the trial to be scheduled in 2007, one of which could involve the gubernatorial election. He said a postelection trial could get the defendants and plaintiffs "far away from the window of potential political damage" and remove the election's influence from the proceedings.
For a copy of the complete article, contact CJRG. |