NEW YORK (AP) - David Stockman rose to prominence as former President Reagan's budget director from 1981 to 1985, grabbing attention early in his tenure when he told an interviewer that he thought Reaganomics was a "Trojan horse" for the rich and predicted huge budget deficits.
The 60-year-old, who famously described how he was taken to the White House "woodshed" for his comments, now finds himself under scrutiny again. He was charged Monday with overseeing a sweeping fraud at a troubled auto parts supplier that he led before the company collapsed into bankruptcy.
He was one of four former top Collins & Aikman Corp. executives named in a federal indictment unsealed Monday. Four others, including a one-time treasurer, have pleaded guilty, prosecutors said.
At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said Stockman and his co-defendants "resorted to lies, tricks and fraud" from 2001 to 2005 to hide the truth about his failing company from investors and creditors. The company entered bankruptcy proceedings in May 2005 - one of several collapses to rock the auto parts industry in recent years.
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