Ex-Bond Trader Pleads Guilty in Fraud Case

A former New York Life Insurance bond trader pleaded guilty to charges he took cash and gifts from brokers in a kickback scheme between 1997 and 1999 that cost the insurance company about $4 million. Anthony Dong-Yin Shen, 26, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and commercial bribery. The count carries a possible maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer set a sentencing date of June 21. “I understood what I was doing was wrong and illegal and I sincerely regret my actions,” Shen said of the scheme which authorities said evolved from the outcome of a bet over whether “The English Patient” would win the Academy Award for best motion picture in 1996. Assistant U.S. Atty. Mylan Denerstein said Shen has agreed to cooperate with the government as part of his plea. Prosecutors announced the case against Shen earlier in the day along with the indictments of three others accused of participating in the scheme: Srinivas Anumolu of Sunnyvale, Calif.; Ronald Pinto of Demarest, N.J.; and Deborah Breckenridge, 45, of Old Town, Fla.