Financial manager arrested for allegedly threatening regulators

A money manager has been arrested by federal authorities for allegedly threatening to kill 47 officials with several financial regulators.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Vincent McCrudden, a commodities fund manager, at the Newark airport Wednesday.

According to a federal complaint unsealed Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commision (CFTC) filed a civil lawsuit against McCrudden at the beginning of December for operating two unregistered commodity pools, according to an FBI affidavit.

A few weeks later, McCrudden began sending expletive-laden emails to CFTC officials handling the case, which included threats to the attorneys handling the case, and CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, the FBI said.

The bureau also claimed that there were pages on McCrudden's website that railed against government agencies, and one that included an "execution list" of 47 current and former officials with the CFTC, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Futures Association, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

"Go buy a gun, and lets get to work in taking back our country from these criminals. I will be the first one to lead by example," McCrudden allegedly wrote on the site.

Even though the threats precede the Tucson shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), they take on a new light after the event, as lawmakers and others have debated whether heated political rhetoric could incite violence, and whether lawmakers and other federal officials need additional security.

McCrudden's attorney, Bruce Barket, said McCrudden was not violent, but merely "ill-mannered and short-tempered," according to Reuters.