Late yesterday, Scott London appeared in court to be arraigned on charges of securities fraud and afterwards he gave an interview to CNBC.
In that interview ScoLo reiterated his statement that he had never passed material non-public information to a golfing buddy — or anyone else for that matter — prior to this incident.
"I had a clean record," he told Jane Wells. London also claims that he didn't know that his watch guy, Bryan Shaw, was making so much money on his trades; he just figured it was a couple hundred grand not over a million.
And then in true auditor fashion, London orally itemized the kickbacks he received from Shaw, coming up with a figure of about $70,000. Apparently he's turned everything over, although the jewelry was in his car.
Perhaps most importantly, when asked about the future, Scottie admits that he's been thinking about that:
London could face 20 years in prison, but he is hoping his guilty plea will lead to leniency. With two kids bound for college, he said he's saved some money but will need to eventually go back to work. "I'm only 50," he said, "I'll wait on tables, I'll do whatever it takes."
Given the circumstances, I'd say this is a good option for SL, although there are a number of questions that immediately come to mind:
- Does Scott go high-end with a place like Morton's or will he be forced to slum it at Applebee's? If the latter, what kind of flair can we expect?
- What is his relevant experience? If he's never done service industry work before, he'll be bussing tables for a least a couple months.
- Should former KPMG colleagues be seated in Scott's section and he's forced to wait on them, how does he handle getting stiffed with a snide note on the check — "Here's a tip: Don't trade client info for Springsteen tickets!"? Take the high road? Or does he confront them in the parking lot, telling them that ordering two turkey clubs, WATER, and no appetizers or dessert is just plain chintzy, even by KPMG standards?
These questions and others are worth discussing. Let's get this London comeback underway.
