“This is evidence of fraud? This is evidence of an evil state of mind? How pathetic,” he told jurors.
Martens, the SEC’s lead lawyer, said in his closing argument that despite the complicated nature of the financial products Tourre worked with, his fraud was a simple one.
“It was a $1 billion fraud to feed Wall Street greed,” Martens said.
As Martens addressed the jury in his summation, a slide was projected behind him, bearing the word “surreal” and its definition: “imaginary, unreal, dreamlike.” It echoed an e- mail in which Tourre referred to a meeting about the investment with ACA Management LLC and a representative of Paulson & Co. as surreal.
“His story is surreal,” Martens said.
Paulson’s Role
The SEC claimed Pellegrini, who wasn’t sued by the SEC, worked with Tourre to mislead ACA about Paulson’s role. The agency claimed that the presence of a third-party portfolio selection agent on the deal was necessary to sell it to investors. Tourre and Pellegrini tricked ACA into serving in that capacity, according to the agency.
“If he didn’t hide the truth, the deal wouldn’t have gone forward,” the SEC lawyer said of Tourre.
Coffey told jurors that Tourre is “a remarkable young man” and argued that mortgage bonds selected for Abacus investment constituted “a darn fine portfolio.”
“We’re here because Fabrice Tourre knows he did nothing wrong,” Coffey told jurors at the start of his closing argument.