Former Georgeson LLC employee Donna Ackerly, (center), enters the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Nate Raymond
(Reuters) - An ex-employee of a firm that advises companies on shareholder votes has struck a deal that could result in the dismissal of charges that she conspired to bribe a proxy adviser’s employee to learn how its investor clients were voting.
Federal prosecutors in Boston on Friday filed a deferred prosecution agreement with Donna Ackerly, a former senior managing director at proxy solicitation firm Georgeson LLC, that would resolve the case against her ahead of a July 12 trial.
She was the last remaining defendant in an often-troubled 2016 criminal case. A jury in 2019 convicted Ackerly of conspiracy and wire fraud charges, after an earlier mistrial. But U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns granted her a new trial based on an improper question a prosecutor asked a witness.
Under Friday's deal, Ackerly acknowledged prosecutors had evidence to establish many of their core allegations, including that Georgeson employees sought information from an employee at Institutional Shareholder Services.
She accepted responsibility in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to drop the charges after 12 months, so long as she abides by the deal's terms, which include a clause barring her from publicly contesting the facts she acknowledged.
The agreement mirrors earlier ones prosecutors struck with three other ex-Georgeson employees in...
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