Saturday, March 31, 2007

A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker was arrested on state gambling charges
in New York, postponing his federal trial for selling access to trading
information broadcast over his firm's office intercom. Sign up for: Globe
Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Timothy O'Connell, 42, of Carle
Place, N.Y., was one of 17 people charged yesterday in connection with an
alleged $30 million online sports gambling ring, Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for
the Queens district attorney, said. "He was a runner," said Ryan. "He was
responsible for soliciting new bettors to the operation, maintaining the
relationship with bettors, and meeting with bettors to collect gambling
losses and pay out winnings." O'Connell's arrest brought his trial in
Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court to a halt this morning. U S District Judge I.
Leo Glasser later adjourned the case for the day. The trial will resume
today. O'Connell is one of seven defendants charged with conspiring to trade
on information broadcast over internal "squawk boxes" at top Wall Street
firms. He and brokers at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
allowed day traders at A.B. Watley Group Inc., an online brokerage, to
eavesdrop on large institutional orders, according to prosecutors.