Mulheren’s Lawyer Calls Boesky a Liar

Former stock speculator Ivan F. Boesky, a key government witness in the securities fraud trial of his former close friend John A. Mulheren Jr., was branded a liar and blasted as a “pile of human garbage” by Mulheren’s lawyer Thursday.

“His testimony can only be described as a sick joke,” said attorney Thomas Puccio, noting that Boesky has admitted that he lied to government officials on numerous occasions.

“People who lie and lie and lie . . . are going to lie to you in this trial,” Puccio told jurors in his closing argument.

Puccio, in trying to strike down Boesky’s earlier testimony against Mulheren in the seven-week trial, described the former stock speculator as the “king of greed” and “the prince of darkness.”

“Boesky is a pile of human garbage, and that’s who the U.S. government has brought up to testify against John Mulheren,” the attorney said.

Mulheren, 40, formerly a chief trader at Jamie Securities, a now-defunct investment firm, is facing 30 counts of conspiracy, securities and mail fraud and keeping false records.