NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Securities regulators in Massachusetts say they have found evidence that Credit Suisse First Boston and one of its star investment bankers issued company research based on investment banking business CSFB received from the company, according to a published report Monday.

Investigators found an e-mail between Frank Quattrone, CSFB's co-head on Internet investment banking, and his colleagues that show an analyst was pressured to resume coverage on tech firm Research in Motion after it had paid certain investment banking fees, according to USA Today.

In one e-mail, Quattrone and others were told that Research in Motion (RIMM: Research, Estimates), the company that makes BlackBerry pagers, had "paid us the extra $1.8 (million)" and should be returned to "most favorable nation status." CSFB then resumed its coverage on the company with a "buy" rating, the paper reported.

"This is clearly a smoking gun in the area of criminal responsibility, especially as it pertains to Mr. Quattrone," Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said.

Regulators also found that CSFB pitched its investment banking services to tech firm Virata in July 1999, with a graphic that said "CSFB Stands by its Clients" and depicted a chart showing that the firm did not cut its ratings on client companies that issued negative news, while its competition did, according to USA Today.

Two weeks ago, Galvin referred the case to New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has broader power to press criminal charges against CSFB. The latest documents may result in separate civil charges.