World's richest Sri Lankan and two Indian- Americans charged with insider trading

Billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and two Indian American executives of top US companies, are among six people charged with the largest ever insider trading in this country.u00a0

At the centre of the case are Rajaratnam, 52, his Galleon hedge fund, and two executives from hedge fund New Castle which was a unit of Bear Stearns Asset Management before Bears Stearns Cos collapsed in 2008 but is still in operation.u00a0

One of the criminal complaints accuses Rajaratnam of conspiring with Intel Capital treasury department managing director Rajiv Goel and Anil Kumar, a director of McKinsey & Co. The alleged offences took place over three years, starting in January 2006.u00a0u00a0u00a0

Galleon had as much as $7 billion under management, the complaint said.u00a0u00a0u00a0

Preet Bharara, Indian-American US Attorney for Manhattan, said the scheme had made more than $20 million in illegal profits over several years.u00a0

Three others charged by prosecutors were Mark Kurland, the president of New Castle Partners, another large money manager; Danielle Chiesi, a former Bear Stearns executive who now works at New Castle; and Robert Moffatt, an executive at IBM.u00a0u00a0u00a0

Rajaratnam was later ordered to post a $100 million bond as part of his bail conditions, though prosecutors argued for no bail because he posed a flight risk. Anil Kumar was released on a $5 million bond.u00a0u00a0
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Rajaratnam is accused of insider trading in the stocks of companies, including Hilton Hotels, Google, and Clearwire. He was charged with four counts of conspiracy and nine counts of securities fraud.u00a0u00a0u00a0

The prosecutors' case is built on both statements from an unnamed cooperating witness, who has agreed to plead guilty, and from the recording of four conversations between the witness and Rajaratnam.

According to the complaint, Rajaratnam partnered with the likes of Goel and Kumar, who supplied information about their portfolio companies or clients, and in turn made profitable trades for these associates.u00a0
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Rajaratnam is listed as No. 551 on Forbes's 2009 list of the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion.