On Monday, we asked whether CNBC on-air reporter Michelle Caruso-Cabrera was trying to become the network's new "money honey." Now it looks like she's torn yet another page out of the book of her anchorbabe predecessor, Maria Bartiromo, who caught flack after taking a flight home from China with then Citigroup chief Todd Thompson. Caruso-Cabrera had her own Chinese date with a Wall Street swashbuckler, Gary Parr. He's the bearded savior of Bear Stearns, which Caruso-Cabrera has thoroughly covered. This probably wouldn't be a big deal if Caruso-Cabrera owned up to the relationship and removed herself from covering, well, the biggest business story to break in years. A CNBC spokesperson has declined to comment on anchors' personal lives or on the network's policy about them dating the people they cover.
The photo above, which looks pretty clearly like Caruso-Cabrera and Parr, speaks volumes about how far CNBC goes to protect its rep as being "first in business, worldwide." Think they had separate hotel rooms? More pics after the jump ... (Thanks commenter krosavcheg for the lead!)