WASHINGTON – Judge Michael Chertoff, the president’s nominee to head the Homeland Security Department, had assets worth between $2.1 million and $4.9 million at the end of 2003 but few investments were in individual stocks, documents show.

Judge Chertoff’s financial disclosure form for that year, the latest available, showed that he held more than 50 investments – mostly in cash accounts, stock and bond mutual funds, and individual bonds.

His largest investment, worth between $500,001 and $1 million, was in a cash fund that earned up to $15,000 in interest.

Annual financial disclosure forms, required of high-ranking federal officials, express investments in broad monetary ranges. The primary purpose is to disclose potential conflicts of interest, not to precisely report one’s net worth.

Judge Chertoff, an appellate judge whose salary this year is $171,800, only listed one active stock investment at the end of 2003: holdings in Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company that specializes in research, development and sale of drugs used primarily to treat and manage pain. The stock was worth up to $15,000 at the end of 2003.

Judge Chertoff disclosed that he sold stock in another drug firm, Reliant Pharmaceuticals Inc., in 2003. He also sold stock in Internet travel site Expedia.

Judge Chertoff’s wife, Meryl, formerly worked in the legislative affairs office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the disaster response agency that is part of the Homeland Security Department.

Judge Chertoff reported receiving transportation, meals, and lodging from organizations that had him as a panelist or speaker.

Former colleagues of Judge Chertoff at the Justice Department gave him a Supreme Court sketch valued at $1,800 when he left as head of the criminal division to become a judge. The Union County, N.J., Bar Association gave him a Waterford crystal clock worth $200. Separately, Judge Chertoff listed a gift from an individual of two tickets to a Luciano Pavarotti concert at a value of $120.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF

BORN: November 28, 1953 in Elizabeth, N.J. EDUCATION: Harvard University, A.B. degree, 1971-75; Harvard Law School, J.D. degree, 1975-78.

RECENT EXPERIENCE:

1987-90 – U.S. Attorney’s office district of New Jersey first assistant U.S. Attorney. 1990-94 – U.S. Attorney. 1994-96 – U.S. Senate Special Counsel for Whitewater Committee. 1994-2001 – Latham & Watkins partner. 2001-03 – U.S. Dept. of Justice Assistant Attorney General criminal division. 2003-present – Judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.