Galleon hedge fund founder, Raj Rajaratnam found guilty of insider-trading-related charges

In probably the biggest insider-trading-related conviction in several decades, Raj Rajaratnam of hedge fund, Galleon, was found guilty on all counts put forth to the jurors:
Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge-fund tycoon and Galleon Group LLC co-founder at the center of a U.S. insider-trading crackdown, was found guilty of all 14 counts against him in the largest illegal stock-tipping case in a generation.

A jury of eight women and four men in Manhattan returned its verdict today after hearing evidence that Rajaratnam, 53, engaged in a seven-year conspiracy to trade on inside information from corporate executives, bankers, consultants, traders and directors of public companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. He gained $63.8 million, prosecutors said.

The trial came as Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara promised to crack down on “rampant” illegal trading on Wall Street. Rajaratnam was convicted on five counts of conspiracy and nine counts of securities fraud. Prosecutors today said he faces 15 1/2 years to 19 1/2 years in prison at his July 29 sentencing.

“Rajaratnam, once a high-flying billionaire and hedge fund manager, is now a convicted felon, 14 times over,” Bharara said in a statement after the verdict. “Rajaratnam was among the best and the brightest -- one of the most educated, successful and privileged professionals in the country. Yet, like so many others recently, he let greed and corruption cause his undoing.”

The jury, which had filled out a verdict sheet at 10:11 a.m., sent a note to U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell nine minutes later telling him it had reached a decision, according to copies of the documents released by the court.

If the charges stick, a certain behaviour on Wall Street will diminish. There are several other pending cases related to insider trading, "expert networks," and the like.

Comments

  1. VictoryperfectJuly 6, 2011 at 3:00 AM

    interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it. Thanks you
    Freevi Neil Chandran

    ReplyDelete

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