Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, a New York prosecutor with criminal jurisdiction over much of the U.S. financial industry for almost five decades, announced he won’t run for another term.

“I never expected to be here this long,” Morgenthau said yesterday at a press conference. “Recently I figured that I’d served 25 years beyond the normal retirement age.”

Morgenthau, 89, first elected district attorney in 1974, was the U.S. attorney in Manhattan before that, having been appointed by President John F. Kennedy. He said yesterday he was in good health and would serve the remaining 10 months of his term.

“He was the first person to actively focus on misconduct in the securities industry, in the accounting profession, in the banking industry and among tax frauds,” John Moscow, an attorney who worked under Morgenthau for 30 years, said in a phone interview. “His prosecutions are based on a concept there should be one law for the rich and the poor alike.”

Contenders to replace Morgenthau include Leslie Crocker Snyder, a former state judge who ran against him in the 2005 Democratic primary, and Cyrus Vance Jr., whose father was President Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state. Both worked as assistants in Morgenthau’s office.

New York attorney Richard Aborn, managing partner of Constantine Cannon and president of the Citizens Crime Commission, said he also is running.

Fall Election

The next election for the post is scheduled for this November.

Morgenthau, who served as the model for prosecutor Adam Schiff on the long-running television series “Law & Order,” announced his decision to his staff shortly before alerting the media. His wife, Lucinda Franks, attended the press conference, along with his secretary, Ida Van Lindt, who will be with the office for 53 years in June.

“I thought this event was particularly important for me to bring my real boss along and my office boss,” Morgenthau said.

Asked about advice for his successor, Morgenthau said “fly straight.” About his future plans, he said his older brother, 93, e-mailed him that “It’s a bad time to be looking for a job.” What cases was he was most proud of? “Every case is important to the victim,” he said.

“He has become a New York institution, and he has set the standard for district attorneys across the nation,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. “While he has earned much-deserved acclaim for his success in attacking white- collar crime,” Bloomberg said, “he deserves equal praise for his pioneering work cracking down on sexual predators.”

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News.

WMD Cases

Morgenthau said he’s currently trying to do more cases involving weapons of mass destruction. He is in the midst of probing the transfer of assets from countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions through foreign banks. Last month, he announced a $350 million settlement with Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, which was accused of allowing Iran and other sanctioned countries illegal access to the U.S. financial system.

The nine banks still under investigation include Credit Suisse Group AG and Barclays Plc.

Other current probes include those of New Yorkers who may have evaded taxes with the help of UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Morgenthau made off-shore banking and money laundering a major focus.

“It’s not my job to prosecute bin Laden or any of his henchmen, but what we can do is interrupt the flow of money,” Morgenthau said in 2006, referring to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Previous Prosecutions

Past targets of the district attorney have included L. Dennis Kozlowski, former chief executive officer of Tyco International Ltd., who was convicted of grand larceny and other charges in 2005. Morgenthau’s office also probed the Bank of Credit and Commerce International in the early 1990s.

Kozlowski is serving 8 1/3-to-25 years in prison. The BCCI probe on fraud and other charges generated $800 million in fines.

In 1961, Morgenthau was named U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Morgenthau interrupted his legal career to run, unsuccessfully, as the Democratic candidate for governor against Nelson Rockefeller. He remained U.S. Attorney until 1970 when he was forced out by Republican President Richard Nixon, who expected all prosecutors appointed by his Democratic predecessor to step down.

Surpassing Hogan

Four years later, Morgenthau won a special election for district attorney. Taking office Jan. 1, 1975, he wound up surpassing the 32 years served by Frank Hogan, who died in 1974.

Morgenthau became New York’s top prosecutor amid a fiscal crisis and a wave of drug-related crime. In 1975, when Manhattan had 648 homicides, he focused on fighting violent crime. Last year, homicides had dropped to 62, he said.

The decline allowed Morgenthau’s office to pursue the financial crimes that he said undermine the city’s economic viability.

Morgenthau’s father, Henry Jr., served as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

At yesterday’s press conference, Morgenthau recalled close calls he had as a Navy lieutenant commander during World War II. While he was treading water without a life jacket after his ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, he decided to devote his life to public service if he survived, he said.

“I decided I wouldn’t push my luck any further,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in Manhattan State Supreme Court at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 28, 2009 00:01 EST