New York, NY —

The U.S. government makes its opening statement today in its case against two former hedge fund managers from the now defunct investment bank Bear Stearns. The government accuses the men of misleading investors about the health of their funds, which collapsed in July of 2007.

WNYC's Lisa Chow sat in on jury selection yesterday:

REPORTER: The funds' collapse led to $1.4 billion in losses for investors. The two men who managed the funds, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, sat in a courtroom in Brooklyn as the judge presiding over the case spent hours interviewing potential jurors with questions such as, "Do you have a 401K?" "Did you lose money?" "Will you blame these two men for your losses?"

In its indictment, the government says Cioffi and Tannin continued to tout their funds even as the funds performance was quickly deteriorating. The defense is expected to argue that the men, like everyone else, were trying to figure out how bad the markets were and whether they should get out.

Both men are charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud and face up to 20 years in prison, if convicted. For WNYC, I'm Lisa Chow.

To read more about jury selection for this trial, please visit the News Blog.