The once high-flying hedge fund SAC Capital was sentenced on criminal fraud charges Thursday under a $1.8 billion deal that prosecutors say included the largest criminal fine ever imposed in an insider trading case. Southern District Judge Laura Taylor Swain (See Profile) formally administered the sentence on Stamford, Conn.-based SAC Capital LP and three related entities based on pleas made by a lawyer for the companies last fall to wire fraud and securities fraud.
The government said in court papers that the majority of money managed by the defendants during a decade-long fraud that began in 1999 belonged to the hedge fund’s billionaire owner and founder, Steven A. Cohen. It noted eight employees have been convicted of insider trading.
