US billionaire found guilty of insider trading

The US hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam has been found guilty of making millions of dollars from insider trading.

Released on bail, the founder of the Galleon Group now faces between 15 to 19 years in jail. He will be sentenced in July.

Prosecutors argued he had made the equivalent of 44 million euros in illegal profits by trading on tips from a network of highly placed corporate insiders.

Rajaratnam was found guilty on all 14 charges he faced, including five counts of conspiracy and nine of securities fraud.

US Attorney David Siegal said: “The signal is, if you’re going to engage in questionable behaviour or try to obtain an advantage from material non-public information watch out, because the government is going to come and they’re going to prosecute you, and if they catch you, they’re going to put you in jail.”

The court case has been part of one of the broadest Wall Street insider trading probes in decades and some say it is likely to lead to tougher regulation of the industry.

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