Discovery in securities fraud

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A federal court in New York allowed a U.S. Attorney to intervene in this fraud action brought by the Securities Exchange Commission against five people and their associated business entities, who allegedly defrauded more than 4,000 investors of over $528 million, so that a related criminal case may first be resolved. Discovery in this civil case could circumvent the more limited discovery proceedings of the criminal one.