Frank Quattrone, the once-powerful investment banker who paid off friendly executives with hot IPO stock in the 1990s, is employing a specialist PR firm to browbeat bloggers who suggest he's a crook. The latest target: Starked SF, a small San Francisco blog, which received a stern note, published after the jump, from a "litigation communicator" from Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates.

Nobody has ever been called to account for Quattrone's "Friends of Frank" scheme: neither the execs in Quattrone's circle who directed their firms' investment banking business to the banker after receiving hot IPO stock; nor the Credit Suisse First Boston exec himself. Quattrone's conviction was overturned on appeal. But there is some slight satisfaction in seeing some of his 1990s profits returned to the people, even if those people are expensive publicists, rather than the clueless individual investors who bought tech stocks in the 1990s aftermarket, and lost savings in the downturn. The Chlopak letter:

I work with Frank Quattrone and I am writing regarding your recent Starked blog posting mentioning Mr. Quattrone to request that you correct and clarify the errors and misleading statements in your piece. This note is not authorized for posting on your blog. It is a request for a correction/clarification.

First, Mr. Quattrone is not a symbol of corruption as you mistakenly state. The simple fact is that no court or regulatory body has found and sustained a ruling that Mr. Quattrone did anything improper. Specifically, all regulatory charges have been overturned or withdrawn. The criminal charges against him will be dropped in less than a year after an appeals court overturned his conviction. We have Courts and regulatory bodies in this country so that people like Mr. Quattrone have an opportunity to clear their name when unsubstantiated allegations are made. Having done exactly that, it is extremely regrettable that Starked has chosen to defame a man who in the eyes of the law is free and innocent. You should correct this mistaken characterization.

Furthermore, there is no fine that has been imposed on Mr. Quattrone. The $90,000 you refer to was associated with his criminal conviction which was overturned on appeal, and because charges will be dropped, the fine goes away as well.

Thanks for your consideration. You can reach me via email or the numbers below if you would like to discuss this further.

Bob

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Bob Chlopak
(202) 289-5900
(202) 841-2051 (mobile)
(202) 289-4141 (fax)