New York Supreme Court Judge James A. Yates has thrown out the 2008 convictions of two former executives of Marsh on felony monopoly charges for accepting contingent commission kickbacks.
William Gilman (a former executive marketing director and managing director at Marsh) and Edward McNenney (the brokerage's former Global Placement Excess Casualty director and managing director) were convicted after an 11-month nonjury trial before Judge Yates. The pair was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for restraint of trade, but their sentences were stayed pending appeals.
Judge Yates cited “newly discovered contradictory evidence,” as well as the suppression of documents that would have been “invaluable” to the defense, which he said “undermines the court's confidence in the verdict.”
The cases grew out of an investigation by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer into bid-rigging and account steering among major brokers, including Marsh. The AG's office, now led by Andrew Cuomo, said in a statement the decision is being reviewed, with an intention to appeal.
In a November 2009 case, Attorney General Cuomo's office asked that charges be dropped against two other former Marsh executives, citing the expense of pursing the prosecution after three other executives were acquitted the month before.
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