Cioffi, Tannin Face Jury Over Bear Funds Collapse

Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin are either responsible for triggering a $1.4 billion hedge fund implosion or are scapegoats for a government eager to affix blame for it.

Jurors selected for a trial beginning tomorrow in Brooklyn, New York, federal court must decide whether the two men misled investors about the health of two hedge funds that collapsed in 2007. The debacle was followed a year later by the failure of Bear Stearns and its purchase by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the U.S. takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the rescue of AIG Inc.