CA NeWs Beta*: Rajaratnam Fraud Had ‘Unknowing’ Participants

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Rajaratnam Fraud Had ‘Unknowing’ Participants

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam
deserves a longer prison term because his insider- trading schemes
involved “five or more people,” including “knowing” and “unknowing”
participants, prosecutors said.

At the request of U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan,
prosecutors today named the people they said were either complicit or
unknowing participants in the schemes. Holwell is to sentence
Rajaratnam on Oct. 13.

Rajaratnam, 54, was convicted in May of 14 counts of securities fraud
and conspiracy. Prosecutors, saying he made $72 million from his
crimes, asked for a prison term of 19 years and seven months to 24 1/2
years. The defense said Rajaratnam made just $7 million and should get
6 1/2 to 8 years.

“This court should find that Rajaratnam’s conduct was ‘otherwise
extensive’ given the number of knowing participants and unknowing
participants who took actions at Rajaratnam’s direction that were
peculiarly tailored and necessary for the commission of the crimes,”
according to the filing by assistant U.S. attorneys Jonathan Streeter,
Reed Brodsky and Andrew Michaelson.

SEC Request

In a related action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today
filed a request for partial summary judgment against Rajaratnam and
Galleon related to his alleged insider trading in Intel Corp.,
Clearwire Corp., Akamai Technologies Inc., ATI Technologies Inc. and
People Support Inc. The commission sued Rajaratnam in 2009.

Regulators said that since he was convicted of all 14 counts involving
these stocks, “summary judgment is appropriate because the conduct for
which Rajaratnam was found guilty forms the basis for the commission’s
claims against Rajaratnam involving these five securities,” they said.
“Accordingly, there is no genuine issue of material fact remaining.”

In their sentencing memorandum filed today, prosecutors cited federal
sentences in which a longer prison term was imposed because the
criminal activity involved “five or more knowing participants.” They
said there were at least nine knowing participants in Rajaratnam’s
crimes, including the defendant’s brother, Rengan Rajaratnam, who
hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing.

Terence Lynam, a lawyer for Rajaratnam, declined to comment on the filing.

The case is U.S. v. Rajaratnam, 09-01184, U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

--Editors: Andrew Dunn, Mary Romano

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