A Grand Jury indicted 47-year-old Quattrone over an e-mail in which he allegedly advised CSFB technology banking staff to destroy documents despite knowing of investigations into his conduct.

Quattrone was indicted three charges: obstructing a Grand Jury investigation, obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe, and witness tampering.

The same charges were outlined in a criminal complaint filed April 23, when Quattrone was arrested.

"Frank Quattrone is innocent," his lawyer, John Keker, said in a written statement.

"He is charged with a crime that he did not commit. We will request a speedy trial and we are confident the jury verdict will establish Frank's innocence and reaffirm his honesty and integrity."

At the time of the e-mail in December 2000, regulators were looking into allegations that Quattrone had funnelled lucrative initial public offerings (IPOs) of stock to potential clients.

But Quattrone allegedly sent to his staff a copy of an e-mail on company document retention policy, in which staff were urged to "catch up on file cleaning".

In the December 5 e-mail, Quattrone allegedly wrote: "Having been a key witness in a securities legislation case in South Texas ... I strongly advise you to follow these procedures."

If convicted, Quattrone faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for obstructing the Grand Jury, five years for obstructing the SEC and 10 years for witness tampering, as well as a maximum fine of 250,000 dollars on each count.

Quattrone resigned as a senior executive for Credit Suisse First Boston in early March.

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, Quattrone was one of the highest-paid figures on Wall Street, earning almost 100 million dollars a year and wielding enormous influence at the helm of CSFB's technology unit.

He presided over lucrative initial public offerings of companies such as Amazon.com and Netscape Communications.

SPACE.WIRE