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If his criminal charges are all dropped, Frank Quattrone could collect $100 million in back pay from his former employer. As long as the major investment banker (who blew up the dot-com bubble with IPO funding) stays clean for a year, he's golden. Great, story over, next criminal.

Why, look, it's former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio, accused of insider trading to the tune of $101 million. In the other corner, first assistant U.S. attorney Cliff Stricklin, last seen putting Ken Lay behind bars.

If our man wants to be Nacchio Libre, he'll have to fight 42 charges of insider trading. His current defense? "I had no idea the company was going under." Yeah, that seemed to work just fine for Lay.

Of course, the Secret Insider Knowledge that Nacchio say made him so confident...is classified. Matters of national security. Let's see if Nacchio can't eat just one charge with that defense.

Enron Prosecutor to Lead Case Against Qwest's Former CEO [WSJ]