The jury in the insider trading trial of Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam deliberated for four hours yesterday without reaching a verdict. Southern District Judge Richard J. Holwell completed his 90-minute charge just before noon yesterday and instructed the panel to begin weighing the evidence. Mr. Rajaratnam is charged with five counts of conspiracy and nine counts of securities fraud for illegally trading in the stocks of over a dozen companies using material non-public information. The government claims he made $63.5 million in illegal profits during the course of the conspiracies from 2003 to 2008.
Following opening arguments on March 9, the jury heard about six weeks of evidence from the government, including dozens of taped phone conversations prosecutors said provided “real time” proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the one-time billionaire was at the hub of the conspiracies. Mr. Rajaratnam’s defense team, led by John Dowd of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, claimed that none of the tapes show material information being passed, that much of the alleged information was already being reported in the financial press or publicly discussed by company officials, and that the government’s case was built on the lies of cooperating witnesses seeking leniency in sentencing.
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