More than two dozen people have been charged in the probe, but Rajaratnam is the most prominent
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US hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam has been found guilty of making tens of millions of dollars from insider trading.
The unanimous verdict brings to an end a nine-week trial which is part of what prosecuters call the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history.
Central to the prosecution’s evidence were tapped phone calls between Rajaratnam and corporate insiders.
Rajaratnam has yet to be sentenced but faces up to 25 years in jail.
Prosecutors asked that he be retained in custody until his sentencing.
He was found guilty on all of the 14 charges he faced, including five counts of conspiracy and nine of securities fraud.
The jury decision was postponed for several days after one juror fell ill and had to be replaced, forcing the jury to restart their deliberations from the beginning.
Jurors went back to the courtroom repeatedly during their deliberations to listen to sections of the 45 tapes of wire-tapped telephone calls.
Prosecutors argued Rajaratnam made as much as $63.8m (£39m) in illegal profits from 2003 to March 2009 by trading on tips from a network of highly-placed corporate insiders.
The companies traded included Google, Intel and Hilton Hotels, the prosecution said.
In his final closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Streeter said the Rajaratnam defence team wanted the jury to defy logic and common sense and ignore the evidence provided by dozens of recorded phone calls of illegal trading tips.
Prosecutors highlighted conversations they argued showed the win-at-all-cost attitude of Rajaratnam, who wanted to “conquer the market”.
The court heard how investment manager Danielle Chiesi, speaking with Rajaratnam, boasted about one insider tip.
“They’re going to guide down. I just got a call from my guy – I played him like a fine-tuned piano,” she said.
In another call, she said she was “glad that we talk on a secure line”.
In its original charge against Rajaratnam, US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission said he was “not a master of the universe, but rather a master of the rolodex”.
“He cultivated a network of high-ranking corporate executives and insiders, and then tapped into this ring to obtain confidential details about quarterly earnings and takeover activity.”
Defence attorney John Dowd argued the secretly-recorded conversations were between traders discussing widely-known stock information.
He said prosecutors had failed to prove that Rajaratnam had broken any insider-trading laws.
The Sri-Lankan-born billionaire, 53, is the central figure in a sweeping US government probe of insider trading at hedge funds.
More than two dozen people have been criminally or civilly charged in the case. Most of them have pleaded guilty.
In September a former IBM executive, Robert Moffat, was sentenced to six months in jail and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty to his role in tipping off Galleon with inside information from his former employer.
Moffat had leaked the information to Rajaratnam’s colleague, Chiesi, with whom he was having an affair, and who has also pleaded guilty.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
More than two dozen people have been charged in the probe, but Rajaratnam is the most prominent
Related Stories
US hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam has been found guilty of making tens of millions of dollars from insider trading.
The unanimous verdict brings to an end a nine-week trial which is part of what prosecuters call the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history.
Central to the prosecution’s evidence were tapped phone calls between Rajaratnam and corporate insiders.
Rajaratnam has yet to be sentenced but faces up to 25 years in jail.
Prosecutors asked that he be retained in custody until his sentencing.
He was found guilty on all of the 14 charges he faced, including five counts of conspiracy and nine of securities fraud.
The jury decision was postponed for several days after one juror fell ill and had to be replaced, forcing the jury to restart their deliberations from the beginning.
Jurors went back to the courtroom repeatedly during their deliberations to listen to sections of the 45 tapes of wire-tapped telephone calls.
Prosecutors argued Rajaratnam made as much as $63.8m (£39m) in illegal profits from 2003 to March 2009 by trading on tips from a network of highly-placed corporate insiders.
The companies traded included Google, Intel and Hilton Hotels, the prosecution said.
In his final closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Streeter said the Rajaratnam defence team wanted the jury to defy logic and common sense and ignore the evidence provided by dozens of recorded phone calls of illegal trading tips.
Prosecutors highlighted conversations they argued showed the win-at-all-cost attitude of Rajaratnam, who wanted to “conquer the market”.
The court heard how investment manager Danielle Chiesi, speaking with Rajaratnam, boasted about one insider tip.
“They’re going to guide down. I just got a call from my guy – I played him like a fine-tuned piano,” she said.
In another call, she said she was “glad that we talk on a secure line”.
In its original charge against Rajaratnam, US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission said he was “not a master of the universe, but rather a master of the rolodex”.
“He cultivated a network of high-ranking corporate executives and insiders, and then tapped into this ring to obtain confidential details about quarterly earnings and takeover activity.”
Defence attorney John Dowd argued the secretly-recorded conversations were between traders discussing widely-known stock information.
He said prosecutors had failed to prove that Rajaratnam had broken any insider-trading laws.
The Sri-Lankan-born billionaire, 53, is the central figure in a sweeping US government probe of insider trading at hedge funds.
More than two dozen people have been criminally or civilly charged in the case. Most of them have pleaded guilty.
In September a former IBM executive, Robert Moffat, was sentenced to six months in jail and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty to his role in tipping off Galleon with inside information from his former employer.
Moffat had leaked the information to Rajaratnam’s colleague, Chiesi, with whom he was having an affair, and who has also pleaded guilty.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The two main cities, Damascus and Aleppo, have so far been free of major protests
Syrian security forces are continuing their crackdown on anti-government protests across the country, with army tanks shelling the third city of Homs.
Several reports say the residential district of Bab Amro came under attack in the early hours of the morning.
Towns around Deraa in the south have been raided and a western suburb of the capital Damascus has been cut off.
Thousands have reportedly been arrested and hundreds killed in the crackdown.
The Syrian government insists it is pursuing “armed terrorist gangs”.
It says it has seized arms and ammunition as well as 150 motorbikes it says the “terrorists” were using to launch attacks.
Meanwhile, diplomats at the United Nations say international pressure following the crackdown has caused Syria to drop its plans to run for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.
There has been no official confirmation of the move.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Syria to take a softer line.
“I urge again President [Bashar al-]Assad to heed calls for reform and freedom and to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators,” he told journalists.
He said he was disappointed that Syria had not yet allowed an international aid assessment team access to Deraa, where the unrest began in March, despite assurances from Mr Assad.
The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut, the capital of neighbouring Lebanon, says that despite the crackdown, solidarity demonstrations are being reported from many parts of the country.
It seems that as soon as the flames are stifled in one area, they break out somewhere else, he adds.
One resident in Homs told the BBC the district has been under siege for four days, with no water, electricity or access to medical care.
He said there had been clashes between security forces and residents, who resisted troops with hunting rifles.
It has not been possible to verify the account.
Reports said heavy shelling began in the Bab Amro district at about 0530 (0230 GMT), and that hundreds of troops were moving into the area.
“Homs is shaking with the sound of explosions from tank shelling and heavy machine-guns,” Najati Tayrara, a human rights campaigner in the city, told Reuters news agency.
An eyewitness, who has not been identified for his own safety, told the BBC security in Homs was extremely tight.
“Always when we go on the streets, around our jobs and the city centre we find the tanks on the bridges,” he said.
“They divided the city into three or four regions … and inspect everybody who comes in. Nobody can go out.
“We see the tanks with [many] soldiers, fully armed, and we hear the sounds of firing from inside these regions. But we have no ability to go there to see what’s happening or to give food or to give help to the injured people.”
There are reports of theft and looting, and that the main shopping centre in the area has been badly damaged by bombing.
Homs reportedly has no water, electricity or medical care
In the town of Jassem, north of Deraa, mass demonstrations continued into the night even as the troops and tanks started to move in.
Jassem and other towns in the area have been surrounded by security forces for several days, declaring their defiance through frequent peaceful protests.
Nearby Deraa has been cut off by troops and tanks for over two weeks, with dozens killed and hundreds arrested.
The government says the situation there is now normal, but it has not allowed UN relief missions in.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 621 civilians and 120 security personnel have been killed since demonstrations pro-democracy protests began in March. Another Syrian rights group, Sawasiah, says more than 800 civilians have been killed.
Officials dispute the civilian toll and say about 100 soldiers have died.
Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Syria, so reports from the country are difficult to verify independently.
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Qamishli
A mobile phone snapshot, reportedly taken in Qamishli on 29 April, shows protesters carrying banners written in Arabic and Kurdish demanding democracy.
Damascus
This footage, which the BBC cannot verify, seems to show demonstrators in Midan, central Damascus, on Friday afternoon. A source in Damascus says he could see a lot of security and police officers in the main areas of Damascus after protests began after Friday prayers finished.
Talbisah
This unverified video seems to show a peaceful protest in Talbisah. Moments into the footage, tanks fire on unarmed civilians. Wyre Davis reports.
Deraa
A soldier walks past men in civilian clothes lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs in this still photo taken from an amateur video.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
