Charges Against Former CIBC Exec Are Dropped

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer dropped criminal charges against a former managing director of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a case related to improper mutual fund trading.

Paul Flynn was charged in 2004 with helping two hedge funds make illegal mutual fund trades. Spitzer had exposed abusive trading practices in the fund industry beginning in 2003, leading to dozens of cases against fund firms or individuals.

Flynn had pleaded not guilty.

The decision to dismiss the case came a month after Spitzer dropped four remaining criminal charges against former Bank of America Corp. broker, Theodore Sihpol, whom he accused of helping a hedge fund trade mutual funds illegally. A jury acquitted Sihpol in June on 29 other counts, and some legal experts say the acquittals raised the risk that Spitzer could face similar defeats in other criminal cases.

Canadian Imperial agreed in July to pay $125 million to settle its role in the Flynn case.

Flynn’s attorney did not return a call for comment.