Pequot whistleblower lands $750K in 'land war' with SEC

A former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney turned whistleblower has settled his wrongful termination case with the SEC. The attorney, Gary Aguirre, said the agency has settled for $755,000. A judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board, which hears employment claims by government employees, issued an order yesterday finalizing the settlement, Mr. Aguirre said. Until 2005, Mr. Aguirre spearheaded an insider trading investigation of Pequot Capital Management Inc., Pequot's founder Arthur Samberg and John Mack, now Morgan Stanley's chief executive. Mr. Aguirre was fired in 2005 after complaining about his superiors' refusal to let him question Mr. Mack once they learned Morgan Stanley was considering hiring Mr. Mack as chief executive. The amount of the settlement equals the pay he would have received since his termination date through tomorrow, plus attorneys' fees, Mr. Aguirre said. "This has been a land war with the Chinese," Mr. Aguirre said of his fight with the agency over the past five years. "They've had eight attorneys on it [and] I've handled most of the proceedings myself." In addition to his complaint before the MSPB, Mr. Aguirre has been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act suit against the SEC as well as an age discrimination case. All of the cases have been dropped under the settlement, he said. In a statement, SEC spokesman John Nester said: "The settlement resolves all outstanding litigation between the parties and reflects the agency's determination to focus on its core mission of protecting investors." Mr. Aguirre said his pursuit of the FOIA case, which sought the release of Pequot-related records, helped prompt the SEC in May to obtain a $28 million settlement from Mr. Samberg and Pequot over alleged illegal trading in Microsoft stock in 2001. Mr. Aguirre, who joined the SEC in 2004 after a successful career as a plaintiff's attorney, said he planned to take several months off before deciding on his future plans.