2nd Look at E. F. Hutton Case Possible : Meese Says Justice Dept. Is ‘Keeping Eyes Open’ on New Data

WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III said today said that if E. F. Hutton & Co. withheld or hid information from federal prosecutors probing a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, the Justice Department will take a second look at the case.

At a news conference, Meese declined to comment specifically on new information that has surfaced in the past week that one congressional panel lawyer said Tuesday might allow the Justice Department to reopen the case and possibly prosecute some company officials.

The attorney general did say that the department is “keeping its eyes open” and that if information was withheld or hidden, “then we will” take another look.

Meese reminded reporters that investigating prosecutors had found that “there was no basis for prosecution” of Hutton executives to whom the government had previously granted immunity in return for information.

“There were no other people that they thought worthy of prosecution in the case,” Meese said.

The Times reported today that a high Justice Department official at one point authorized the criminal prosecution of three Hutton officials for the brokerage house’s million-dollar overdrafts. (Part IV, Page 1.) None of the officials were identified, and they were not prosecuted.

The company has pleaded guilty to 2,000 criminal counts of fraud and faces $2.7 million in fines and legal fees.

Meese’s comments came amid disclosures made to the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, which is continuing its investigation of the department’s controversial decision in May to accept a guilty plea from the company as a whole for massive illegal overdrafts rather than to prosecute specific Hutton officials.

Hayden Gregory, a subcommittee lawyer, said Tuesday that documents obtained by The Times--dating from mid-1981 and early 1982--may have been withheld from the federal grand jury that originally investigated the Hutton overdraft scheme, called check-kiting.

A spokesman for E. F. Hutton acknowledged that “a number of Hutton documents that may bear on the plea agreement” were recently turned over to the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the congressional panel. The spokesman said the documents are “new.”