"....'bout dam* time.................
Galleon’s Rajaratnam Charged in Insider Trading Scam (Update2)
By David Glovin and Katherine Burton
Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund firm Galleon Group, and ex-directors at a Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund were among six people charged in a $20 million insider trading scheme by federal prosecutors.
Also accused were Rajiv Goel, who worked at Intel Capital as a director in strategic investments, Anil Kumar, who worked as a director at McKinsey & Co., and IBM Corp. executive Robert Moffat. The former officials at Bear Stearns Asset Management are Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland, who were affiliated with the firm’s New Castle Partners, which managed about $1 billion.
The six are charged with using insider information in 2008 and 2009 to trade in shares of companies including Google Inc., Polycom Inc., Hilton Hotels Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., according to two complaints filed in Manhattan federal court today. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan will hold a press conference today at 1 p.m. to discuss the charges.
Rajaratnam, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, was identified this year by Forbes as the 559th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. Galleon Partners is based in Manhattan.
Galleon said in a February 2009 press release that it has a “17-year track record in the alternative investment business specializing in long/short equity strategies.” It has offices in London, Singapore, Mumbai, and Menlo Park, California.
Phone calls to Galleon were referred to an executive, George Lau, who didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The cases are U.S. v. Rajaratnam, 09-02306, and U.S. v. Chiesi, 09-mag-2307, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in New York federal court at dglovin@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 16, 2009 11:23 EDT
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