DOW JONES NEWSWIRES A federal jury convicted three former employees of a General Electric Co. (GE) unit for their role in an alleged bid-rigging conspiracy the government said deprived municipalities of competitive investment returns. Dominick P. Carollo, Steven E. Goldberg and Peter S. Grimm were each found guilty of various counts of commit wire fraud and to defraud the United States, the Justice Department said Friday. They face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, though the maximum penalties can be raised to twice the gain or loss stemming from each crime. Prosecutors had accused the three former employees of GE Funding Capital Market Services Inc. with helping manipulate the bidding process used by cities and states to invest the proceeds of municipal bond offerings. GE Funding, a financing arm of GE, agreed in December to pay $70 million to resolve allegations by federal and state authorities that it engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids in the municipal finance department. GE said at the time that it was pleased to resolve the probe and "the employees' behavior in this matter did not meet GE's standards." The government has charged 18 people so far as part of its investigation into the bidding process for investments tied to municipal bonds. Including Friday's, 15 people have been convicted, while three more await trial. GE shares closed down 8 cents at $19.01 Friday and were inactive after hours. -By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com
