Jett Wins Arbitration Case in Kidder Dispute

Joseph Jett, a bond trader accused of masterminding a trading scheme that led to the demise of Kidder Peabody & Co., won a legal tussle over $5.3 million in assets frozen by his former employer. An arbitration panel of the National Assn. of Securities Dealers rejected the firm’s efforts to use the funds to offset damages and to recover money it said Jett improperly collected--including $8.2 million in bonuses--as a result of sham trades. The panel ordered the firm, which has since been absorbed by PaineWebber Group Inc., to release $1 million immediately to Jett. . . . In a separate development, Mark Ferber, the investment whiz who advised governments on finance while receiving secret payments from Merrill Lynch & Co., was sentenced to 33 months in prison and fined $1.65 million.