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Magistrate Drops SEC Charges Against GOP Fundraiser


Zachariah
Zachariah P. Zachariah, cardiologist, philanthropist, GOP fundraiser, former member of the state Board of Governors and former chairman of the state Board of Medicine, was exonerated of civil insider trading charges after a 12-day bench trial. U.S. Magistrate Linnea Johnson not only found against the SEC but also said it didn't come close to making its case that Zachariah engaged in insider trading in generic drug maker Ivax and prison operator Correctional Services. The SEC's evidence was "scant and tenuous," Johnson wrote. Said Zachariah, "I have always had great faith in our justice system, and I knew that I would be fully vindicated in the end." Zachariah was said to be President George W. Bush's choice for U.S. Surgeon General until the SEC investigation derailed his chances.