Raj Rajaratnam Must Be Shi__ing A Brick; Two Lesser Defendants ...One Sentenced to Ten Years and the Other Sentenced to Four Years Respectively!

Notorious "inside trading magnate" Raj Rajaratnam about three weeks from being sentenced to a long "Federal Lockup", is obviously keeping his eye on other sentences for convicted " inside traders ". In Raj's case the Government is seeking a 24 year sentence.
Well yesterday Zvi Goffer was sentenced to 10 years and Winifred Jiau was sentenced to four years.Did someone say "sending a message"? Neither case matched the extent of "illegal profiteering " that we saw in Raj Rajaratnam's case .(see Galleon Hedge Fund Case)
So Raj, be prepared for the worst, pray you can remain free on bail during the appeal ..and that your army of attorneys can identify and pursue reversible error from the trial record while perfecting your appeal. And Raj, if I were you I'd party hardy for the next weeks.
And all for what ? You had plenty of money already !

Goffer, Goffer and Kimmelman Convicted of Trading on Insider Information!

Another big win for the Federal Prosecutors on "insider trading charges ". After more than 5 days of deliberations, the 2 Goffers and Mr. Kimmelman were found guilty by the jury. The Government Investigation yielded 21 guilty pleas, 4 convictions with one individual still at large.
Quite a scorecard for the US Attorneys!
Will it deter future similar conduct? Your thoughts?

Insider Trading on Wall Street; Defendants Dropping Like Flies ...!

Boy oh boy! When I was in law school I took " securities law " one semester . It was taught by Profesor Jacobs... I liked it but never thought too much about Section 10b(5) of The Securities Act . The Law was originally passed to curtail amongst other things, market manipulation, corruption and trading on "inside(non-public ) information" .
Since the big scandal of the 1980's involving Ivan Boesky and others , there has not really been a huge emphasis on these criminal prosecutions....Until now! Wow.
Indictments , prosecutions , convictions and now a string of guilty pleases. " Everybody is doing it"! M &A attorneys, analysts, consultants, accountants, traders, Hedge Fund managers,...You name it!
But now, we have a new one. Donald L. Johnson, a Senior Executive , at NASDAQ, at the market intelligence desk just plead guilty in District Court in Alexandria Va. Unbelievable.
You must know that this conduct (wink, wink) has been going on forever, but in my opinion all the advances in technology[plus the Justice department's willingness] have facilitated the number and effectiveness of prosecutions and pleas.
Who's next? Your thoughts.

Galleon Insider Trading Trial;" Oy Vey "

So after six days of deliberations, wiretap playbacks, a day off, foot surgery to the defendant during deliberations and plenty of waiting, a juror from the main panel was excused and an alternate was picked to replace the excused juror. The jury must now "start deliberations over again" due to a new juror coming into the mix.
Don't know the prosecution's and defense's take on the excused and alternate jurors...But certainly the prosecution cannot be overjoyed with these developments. Let's wait and see!

Galleon Insider Trading Case; Defense has Rested, Both Sides Have Summed up and Case Will Go to the Jury.

In what one could describe as the biggest, most intensive and most vigorous prosecution of a Hedge Fund money manager on"insider trading charges " in history a lot is at stake beyond the obvious question for the jury on whether to convict or acquit Raj Rajaratnam. If convicted, will that give the Government the confidence and momentum they need to prosecute others. If he is acquitted of all major counts, will that dissuade Prosecutors from investing the huge time, money and resources needed to prosecute cases of similar type and magnitude. Only time will tell.
Regarding the case at hand, I believe it will all come down "to the tapes". Were they clear, how did the defendant come across on the tapes? Brazen, arrogant, cocky, sneaky or secretive ? Since Mr. R did not testify at trial, the tapes are the only true way for the jurors to listen to him, analyze him and judge him. If they dislike him they will convict...if not they may not convict. Obviously , we didn't hear the tapes.
In any event, my opinion....Conviction on all major counts! ....Remember, the defendant is not OJ Simpson being tried in L.A.

Your thoughts?

Insider Trading; How many Mergers and Acquisition Attorneys divulge "Confidential,Inside Information"?

There are countless sources on "non-public information" to tap into for stock traders including banks, investment banking houses, mail room employees, accountants and employees at "prospectus printing firms". But no source is more fertle than the "mergers and acquisitions attorney ", who has unlimited, unfettered and unscreened access to"all the lurid details " of proposed mergers or acquisitions. We discovered this week in the case of Matthew H Kluger Esq. , a senior associate in a Wash. D.C. "M& A Firm", that "greed is allmighty "! Mr. Kluger is accused of stealing information from three law firms and passing it on to a middleman...where it ended up in the hands of the ultimate trader. The temptation is great, the reward(easy $), but unfortunately nowadays with modern trading technology the "leads for prosecutors" to follow are like laying breadcrumbs on your hiking trail. Like any scheme, it's great until.......you get caught!..More lives and careers ruined over greed! Something to think about; How rampant is this scenario? Your thoughts?

Galleon Insider Trading Case; The Prosecution has Rested.

The Prosecution has rested in "The Galleon Insider Trading Case ". Plenty of witnesses, plenty of wiretaps and lots of strong evidence. Defense is only expected to call 5 or 6 witnesses; Is less better? Only time will tell. The defense theme will be that Galleon managed over $7 billion and prided itself on unmatched market research and keeping "their collective noses to the grindstone" at all times . At the end of the day it will be an interesting issue for the jury to determine whether in fact defendant acted on (and profited from) "alleged illegal insider information"......Or whether he acted on market research and information that was legitimately gathered. Going to take an excellent defense summation to explain this to the jury and to plant a viable seed for aquittal. Tough one for the defense, especially in light of the vast resources the Government has pumped into this prosecution. Stay tuned!