The Manhattan District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said thousands of investors lost millions of dollars as a result of the purported fraud.

That, it may be noted, was while the purported fraud was still going strong.

The purported fraud took place while Constant was employed at Melville Brokerage.

Though the scale of the purported fraud is large, the case against the executives laid out in the three-count indictment was relatively simple.

Neither the Government nor Mr. Butenkoff put a dollar figure on the amount of the purported fraud.

He also said that Harry Halamandaris, head of the unit at the time of the purported fraud, had been moved to the corporate staff.

Some defense attorneys said, however, that Federal prosecutors may have difficulty connecting purported fraud on the trading floor with the use of the telephone or the mail.

How did the purported fraud by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International escape detection for so long?

Also, there have been several cases of purported fraud and mismanagement.

According to Mr. Merola, the murder inquiry uncovered evidence overlooked by Federal authorities about the purported fraud on the tunnel project.