Jury acquits Bear Stearns managers

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A New York City jury said two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were not guilty of fraud for concealing the weakness of the fund, which collapsed in 2008.

The fund's demise was soon followed by the collapse of Bear Stearns, which avoided bankruptcy by selling itself at the last minute in a fire sale to JP Morgan Chase & Co., The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Prosecutors attempted to pair the defendants' lavish lifestyles and emails that expressed concerns about the fund with the fund's collapse.

One e-mail written in 2006 by Mathew Tannin, one of the defendants, said he was taking anti-depressants due to his worries about the fund.

Lawyers for Tannin and co-defendant Ralph Cioffi said prosecutors had isolated "misleading sound bites" to prove the managers were deceiving investors.

Cioffi was also found not guilty of insider trading, a charge built on an alleged transfer of $2 million from one fund to another.