Boesky Likely to Go to Jail, SEC Chief Says

Disgraced speculator Ivan F. Boesky will likely go to jail for his criminal conviction, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday.

David S. Ruder said that although Boesky had not been sentenced yet, “I would be very surprised if he didn’t go to jail. After all, Boesky was extremely bad; that’s putting it mildly.”

Boesky, once one of Wall Street’s best-known stock speculators, settled SEC charges of insider trading by paying a record $100-million penalty to the enforcement agency almost a year ago.

He was also banished from the securities business for life and pleaded guilty in April to one felony charge of conspiring to lie to the SEC. Boesky is cooperating in a broad government investigation into Wall Street corruption that has implicated a number of other prominent professionals.

For his criminal conviction, Boesky faces a maximum five-year term and $250,000 fine. He is to be sentenced next month.