Raj Rajaratnam’s bid to remain free while he challenges his conviction for insider trading was turned aside yesterday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Just a day after he asked the circuit to allow him to remain free on bail claiming he had genuine grounds to challenge the government’s wiretap application as unconstitutional and illegal, the Galleon Group hedge fund founder learned he will head to a federal correctional facility on Monday to begin serving an 11-year sentence.
Mr. Rajaratnam, 54, was found guilty on five conspiracies and nine substantive counts of insider trading in May. He was sentenced by Judge Richard Holwell in October. His team of lawyers, led by Patricia A. Millett of Akin, Gump, Straus, Hauer & Feld, tried to stave off the prison sentence pending appeal, arguing on Wednesday that the government omitted crucial information from a 2008 warrant application to then-Southern District Judge Gerard E. Lynch (See Profile) (NYLJ, Dec. 1).
