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Rajaratnam to Face a Decade Plus in Prison for Largest Inside Trading
BY CHRIS DOLMETSCH & CULLEN WHEATLEY MANHATTAN (BWB): Raj Rajaratnam began his odyssey through the court system in silence, remaining mute on the day of his insider-trading arrest two years ago. In the end, after choosing not to testify at his trial, he uttered next to nothing as he was sentenced to prison for 11 years. The hedge fund manager’s silence stood in contrast to a government case built on his words -- words secretly recorded by investigators using wiretaps for the first time as part of a federal insider-trading investigation. As prosecutors said during yesterday’s sentencing in Manhattan federal court, the offense was all about talking. “The crime of insider trading is essentially committed through communication,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said as U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell imposed sentence. The number of words Rajaratnam uttered yesterday might have been counted on one hand. He said, “Yes,” when Holwell asked whether he had read the probation department’s presentence report, and “No, thank you,” after being asked if he wanted to speak before he was sentenced. His final word was “Yes,” when the judge asked whether he understood his right to appeal. Rajaratnam, 54, must report to federal prison Nov. 28 after being convicted in what prosecutors said is the largest insider- trading case ever. The co-founder of the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund didn’t speak publicly before his trial, take the witness stand during it, or comment afterwards. The only indication of what Rajaratnam was thinking came in a court filing last month, when
prosecutors said he told a probation official he wasn’t “clear” on “the line between permissible ‘detective work’ and impermissible insider trading.” In court, Rajaratnam gave no hint of how he viewed the case against him. His expression remained inscrutable -- he exhibited neither
Nor did the court hear from Rajaratnam’s wife, Asha, who sat in the third row in the gallery and listened as Holwell weighed her husband’s fate. As she left the courthouse, Rajaratnam’s bodyguard stood between her and members of the media. Rajaratnam’s taciturn manner
swayed by the “nonstop” media attention to the case. And four former Securities and Exchange Commission commissioners wrote to the judge detailing why insider trading harms the public markets. Scores of Rajaratnam’s friends, family and associates wrote about his charity, good works and public spiritedness. The last word, however, belonged
to the judge, who rarely if ever voiced his opinions about the case. “Simple justice,” said Holwell, looking down on Rajaratnam from the bench, “requires a lengthy sentence.” The case is U.S. v. Rajaratnam, 09-01184, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
China not too Happy as India Signs Off on Vietnam Oil Deal
Raj Rajaratnam, 54 year old founder of Galleon was sentenced to prison for 11 years for insider trading that may have helped his company gain or save from $72 million in losses, the goverment estimates. This is one of the largest insider trading cases so far
anger nor excitement, even when the judge handed down a sentence that was less than half of the maximum sought by the government. In a striped blue tie and charcoal suit, Rajaratnam sat still in his seat as Brodsky called his crimes “brazen, pervasive and egregious.” He didn’t react when defense attorney Terence Lynam said the prison term sought by prosecutors was as long as a murderer might get. At most, Rajaratnam swayed slightly as Holwell said he would remain on probation for two years even after leaving prison about a decade from now. Otherwise, the hedge fund manager was motionless. He never expressed remorse or apologized, often part of the usual ritual of sentencing.
inside the courtroom differed from his effusiveness outside of it. Friends testified during his trial that Rajaratnam was a friendly, outgoing man. On wiretaps played in court, he cracked jokes and chuckled. In the hour before sentencing, he sat in the courthouse cafeteria talking with his lawyers, his hands arched beneath his chin as the attorneys leaned forward to hear. While Rajaratnam didn’t say much in court since his arrest Oct. 16, 2009, most other key players in his prosecution did. Brodsky called for a sentence that “sends a clear and unmistakable message to money managers and hedge funds” that insider trading will be punished. Lynam urged Holwell not to be
BEIJING: India is playing with fire by agreeing to explore for oil with Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea, a major Chinese newspaper said, advising the Indian company to reconsider and pull out. India’s state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp said its overseas investment arm had signed a threeyear deal with PetroVietnam for developing long-term cooperation in the oil sector. The news came as China and Vietnam signed an agreement seeking to contain a dispute over the South China Sea that has stoked tensions between the two Communist-ruled neighbours divided by a history of mistrust. The China Energy News, published by Communist Party said cooperation between India and Vietnam in these seas was a bad idea. “India’s energy strategy is slipping into an extremely dangerous whirlpool,” it said on the front page. Both China and India have huge energy needs, which had led them to compete in some parts of the world and cooperate in others, it said. “But oil companies must have
a bottom line, which is to follow international law and respect the structure of international relations,” the newspaper added. “On the question of cooperation with Vietnam, the bottom line for Indian companies is that they must not enter into the disputed waters of the South China Sea,” it said. “Challenging the core interests of a large, rising country for unknown oil at the bottom of the sea will not only lead to a crushing defeat for the Indian oil company, but will most likely seriously harm India’s whole energy security and interrupt its economic development. “Indian oil company policy makers should consider the interests of their own country, and turn around at the soonest opportunity and leave the South China Sea,” it said. The pact between ONGC Videsh and Vietnam’s oil and gas agency covers new investments and strengthening presence from drilling-to-dispensing in Vietnam, India, and other countries, ONGC said. ONGC Videsh, along with TNKBP and PetroVietnam, has a stake in a gas field in the Nam Con Son basin, off Vietnam’s south coast.
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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011 • WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM