Charles Luethke

Morgan Stanley > The Curry Scandal > Charles Luethke

The Informant: Charles Luethke

Soon after Christian Curry was arrested as a result of the sting operation, apparently Luethke started calling Ms. Marisa Wheeler, telling her "How does this feel about Christian? Going to jail?" As a result Ms. Wheeler called the cops and he was arrested for aggravated harassment of Ms. Wheeler, a misdemeanor, and for possessing a forged military ID, a felony. Luethke denied the account and pleaded not guilty. According to him the felong charge arose because he asked Detective Luis Serrano "where the toilet plunger was" (an apparent reference to police officer Justin Volpe and his attack on Haitian immigrant Abner Louima).

In a letter to Assistant Attorney John Ryan, he wrote "I have never been arrested. I had a former high-ranking FBI agent vouch for me (my character) [sic] because law enforcement could find very little information. I am an Ordained Priest who was ordained by a retired three-star General from the US Army who is a world leader within the religious community. I have served my country honorably during war (one of the few chosen out of thousands during combat for USMAPS) … [I] received one of the first nominations of my class for West Point from a Congressman. Since then, I have worked extremely hard to become an Ambassador-at-large for two very prestigious foundations which emphasize integrity. You and Det. sEroneous [sic] speak to me as if I am a criminal."

Cover Up of Other Serious Allegations?

The question is whether Luethke is credible enough to be his other charges taken seriously? Milton Allimadi, who broke the sting operation story that if one listens carefully to Luethke, one will be able to find elements of truth.

For example, Charles Luethke said that in view of the fact that the authorities could not protect him and his girlfreind from Curry and his people, he could not divulge anything about Morgan Stanley. "If there was any evidence, even slightly unethical, or possibly illegal activity on MS’s part that I could possibly provide, how could I tell you?"

He also claimed that Marisa Wheeler signed a confession that she lied to the police about his alleged harassment of her, and submitted the statement to officials at the F.B.I. It was denied by Ms. Wheeler and she commented that she saw a copy of the confession and it was obviously forged. F.B.I. refused to address this issue "due to agency policy." Question is why would he start harassing Ms. Wheeler after he got his $10,000. According to Ms. Wheeler, he used to call her often and taunt her regarding Christian's arrest. Media reported about a few women from Columbia university days, who refused to be named, alleging that he used to stalk them, for apparent romantic interest. What was the motive here?

Much more serious is his allegation that while the District Attorney claimed that it knew of Morgan Stanley's monetary deal with Mr. Charles Joseph Luethke only after the arrest of Nr. Curry's arrest, he had taped a conservation with Assistant Attorney Frazer that proved that DA's office had prior knowledge of his meetings with Morgan Stanley. He told The Observer after charges against Mr. Curry were dropped: "The firm’s lack of ethics is only outweighed by Morgenthau’s all-timers. There was a lot more money involved, it was intended for the cops, and Morgenthau and the Mayor knew what was going on."

Apparently he indicated that the chair of Morgan Stanley, Phillip Purcellhimself was involved in the sting. Moreover, The New York Times had some evidence that Luethke tried to return $10,000 he received to the company.

Later Charles Luethke filed a $500 million law suit against Morgan Stanley, alleging coercion of testimony.