New Prudential Securities Probe Told

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has begun a federal criminal investigation of Prudential Securities and suspected fraud by brokers and managers, sources close to the inquiry said. The probe, which was launched more than a month ago, was broadened within the last week to include the firm’s massive limited partnership program, which took in $6 billion from investors in the 1980s and resulted in huge losses. The sources said federal prosecutors are looking into the possible payment of kickbacks and attempted bribes to senior Prudential Securities officials by outside companies that managed individual partnership programs.