Kumar alleges they were all aware of the infamous “35-day month” ploy for which he and eight other former CA (CA) officials took the fall. “Wang was not only aware of the accounting improprieties, such as the 35-Day Month, he also actively participated in concealing those improper accounting practices. … Wang knew that CA’s quarters were ‘open’ for five days into the next month per his directive, and he sometimes instructed CA to keep CA’s books ‘open’ after the usual ‘five days’ to execute license agreements and recognize revenue from those agreements in the previously ended quarters.”

Damning allegations and ones Wang, D’Amato, et al., vigorously deny.
Said a spokesman for Ranieri and D’Amato: “[Kumar] from jail continues to be a stranger to the truth.”

If Quattrone’s lengthy legal ordeal truly was an opera, then it makes Richard Wagner’s interminable Ring Cycle look short by comparison. Accused of ordering the destruction of documents while his firm was under subpoena, Quattrone was charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice in April 2003. His first trial ended in a hung jury in October 2003. He was convicted in a retrial in May 2004 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. But that verdict was overturned last year. Quattrone managed to avoid a third trial by reaching a deferred-prosecution agreement with prosecutors. Now, having met its terms, his four-year battle with the federal justice system is officially over.

So what’s next for the investment legend? Back to business, most likely. Said Bill Burnham, a venture capitalist who once worked with Quattrone: “Investment bankers want him to start a private equity firm and private equity investors want him to start an investment bank because neither group wants to compete head-on with Frank. Who knows, maybe he will disappoint them all and do both.”