NY manager indicted for threats to regulators

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury formally charged a money manager who was arrested two weeks ago over allegations he threatened 47 current and former U.S. market regulators in emails and website postings.

The January 25 indictment, made public on Wednesday, accuses New York money manager Vincent McCrudden with two counts of threatening to injure regulators, including Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

The initial complaint charging McCrudden was dated December 21 and made public on January 13, days after concerns heightened for the safety of public officials following the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson, Arizona.

McCrudden's lawyer, Bruce Barket, said his client would plead not guilty to the charges when he next appears in U.S. District Court in Central Islip on New York's Long Island.

"Hopefully, he will be released on bail while we contest the charges," said Barket.

McCrudden, 49, was denied bail at his initial hearing on January 13 and did not enter a plea.

One email cited in court documents and purported to have been written by McCrudden calling for regulators to be abolished said: "Go buy a gun, and lets get to work in taking back our country from these criminals. I will be the first one to lead by example."

Long Island-based McCrudden has a long history of legal battles with authorities. The FBI arrested him on January 13 at Newark International Airport in New Jersey on his return from Singapore, where he has also lived.

Federal prosecutors alleged that McCrudden made threats to kill regulators shortly after the CFTC brought an enforcement action accusing the former commodities trader and two of his companies with operating unregistered investments.

The case is U.S. v. McCrudden, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 10-01503.

(Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Gary Hill)