A four-page scathing email from Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney Irene Gutierrez to her boss,SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro, made quite a stir around Washington and New York.
"Your attempt to take credit for the Reserve Primary Fund case is another head-scratcher," the email stated. "According to you, the investigation would have dragged on for years without your intervention. Nothing could be further from the truth. That matter had been identified as a high priority matter by people you have thrown under the bus..." (Washington Post)
The problem is that the angry, flaming, potentially career-ending email was a forgery. Ms. Gutierrez quickly wrote her own email, the Washington Post reports:
"I apologize to everyone who received this email," she wrote. "My blackberry was stolen and someone sent the message below. I did not author this email nor do I know who did. I have notified my supervisors and contacted the Security branch and they are in the process of shutting off the blackberry."
Later, the SEC stated that the BlackBerry had not been stolen, but was misplaced. "We have determined that the email was sent outside the agency's network and the originating email address was spoofed," the spokesman told the Wall Street Journal. The email appeared to have been sent from a server in West Chester, Pa, the publication reported. The location of the sender isn't known.
Of course, the real question, is how did somebody spoof an email address and successfully send the email to key individuals. That should bear some investigation.
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