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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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041089
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04108900.039
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1990-09-22
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NATION, Page 42Taking It All Back, Plus InterestThe U.S. wants billions from the king of junk bonds
The indictment was long anticipated, but the size of the
proposed penalties was enough to provoke a collective gasp among
Wall Streeters. Last week a federal grand jury in Manhattan charged
junk-bond king Michael Milken, 42, his brother Lowell, 40, and
Bruce Lee Newberg, 31, a former colleague of theirs at the
investment firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, with a total of 98 felony
counts of stock manipulation, insider trading, racketeering and
other crimes. The indictment calls for the three accused to forfeit
their total compensation of $1.5 billion for 1984 through 1987
(plus interest of $257 million) and pay fines of $3.7 billion. If
convicted on all counts, Milken could face a maximum prison
sentence of 520 years.
The most stunning new disclosure was the Government's
calculation of Milken's income, which had previously been estimated
at a mere $50 million to $100 million annually. But Milken's salary
and bonuses actually amounted to $554 million in 1984-86 and an
additional $550 million in 1987, the indictment says.
Milken's unprecedented income was the result of his employment
contract with Drexel, where he has been the firm's biggest source
of profits as head of its Beverly Hills-based junk-bond department.
Milken almost single-handedly created the junk-bond market, which
has grown from $1 billion in 1981 to $180 billion last year. His
downfall began three years ago, when arbitrager Ivan Boesky,
collared on insider-trading charges, began singing to prosecutors
about alleged stock-fraud schemes he carried out with Milken and
Drexel. Last December Drexel struck a deal with prosecutors that
called for the firm to plead guilty to six felony charges and pay
$650 million in fines. Drexel also said it would withhold $200
million in compensation owed to Milken for 1988.
Under last week's racketeering charges, the Government can
freeze the Milken brothers' assets even before they are tried.
Prosecutors are expected to ask the investment bankers to post a
$1 billion bond to prevent such an asset seizure. Last week Milken
said he would take a leave of absence from the firm to fight the
charges. Said he: "After almost 2 1/2 years of leaks and
distortions, I am now eager to present all the facts in an open and
unbiased forum."
As a defense tactic, Milken's lawyers will probably attack
Boesky's credibility because he received a reduced charge in return
for his testimony. They could also challenge the constitutionality
of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, the
statute under which Milken has been charged. Some legal experts
believe the law, originally designed to combat organized crime,
gives prosecutors unfair leverage in white-collar-crime cases.