In a front-page article in today’s New York Times, Gary Aguirre, a client of GAP Attorney Joanne Royce, was identified as the S.E.C. lawyer who ran an investigation of Pequot Capital Management, a major hedge fund, until last summer.
As stated in the article, “The S.E.C.’s handling of the Pequot inquiry has itself come under scrutiny by Congress and the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that examines whistle-blower complaints. These officials are examining charges by Gary J. Aguirre, the S.E.C. lawyer who ran the Pequot investigation until last summer, that senior S.E.C. officials had backed his inquiry – including the issuance of scores of subpoenas – until he sought the testimony of an influential Wall Street executive.”
The Senate is also focusing on the circumstances surrounding Aguirre’s termination last September. The article continues “Senate investigators want to know, among other things, whether political considerations played a role in the S.E.C.’s firing of Mr. Aguirre only 11 days after awarding him a two-step merit pay increase and after his supervisor had praised his work on the Pequot investigation.”
GAP Attorney Joanne Royce, an attorney for Aguirre, has issued the following statement: “GAP is pleased its attorneys were able to assist Mr. Aguirre in taking his allegations to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and Senate Committees with relevant oversight duties.”
Royce was quoted in the New York Times article as stating “Until he (Aguirre) spoke out, his supervisors officially and unofficially praised his performance and found it exceeded all applicable S.E.C. standards.”