Ill Businessman Waives Right to Attend Own Trial
Heart trouble has prompted Newport Beach businessman Lee Shrout to waive his right to attend his federal court trial on securities fraud charges.
Shrout was president of Newport Beach-based Abex Ltd. He and two associates are accused of manipulating the stock price and defrauding investors of about $500,000, according to the indictment.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard Drooyan said the trial will continue with the other defendants, Ralph Ernstsen and E. Michael Furlong, present.
Shrout, 51, is in a Los Angeles hospital and scheduled for bypass surgery in the next week or so, according to his attorney Carl Douglas. Douglas said U.S. District Judge Laughlin Waters ruled Tuesday that the trial could continue without Shrout.
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