Rajaratnam's criminal conduct was 'brazen, arrogant, pervasive' say Prosecutors
Defense seeks lenient sentence citing ill health, charitable work
August 11 - (UPDATE: SL-USA) - US prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum described the disgraced Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam as “arguably the most egregious violator of the laws against insider trading ever to be caught,” and said he should spend at least 235 months in jail.
Rajaratnam, 54, was convicted on May 11, after a two-month trial, of all 14 criminal counts of conspiracy and securities fraud he was charged with. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 27.
In a 56-page document filed in the US District Court (Southern District of New York) on August 9, lead US Attorney Preet Bharara called Rajaratnam’s criminal conduct brazen, arrogant, and pervasive. “He corrupted old friends. He corrupted subordinates. He corrupted entire markets. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Rajaratnam operated as a billion-dollar force of deception and corruption on Wall Street,"
Rajaratnam’s lawyers filed a separate 79-page memorandum describing the former CEO as being very ill and asking the court for a sentence ‘substantially below’ the federal guidelines, combined with a financial penalty and extensive community service.
“Mr. Rajaratnam’s failing health and the unique constellation of ailments ravaging his body mean, quite simply, that a lengthy period of imprisonment will constitute a death sentence and result in the permanent and final separation of Mr. Rajaratnam from his family,” his lawyers said.
The defense memorandum was packed with letters from friends, family members, former colleagues, and several Sri Lankan businessman who praised Rajaratnam as a ‘humble and approachable person’ who gave generously to the needy. Businessman H. Esufally attested that Rajaratnam funded the building of 300 flats for the Muslim community in the eastern province after the 2004 tsunami, while Geoffrey Canada, who heads the non-profit Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), said Rajaratnam wrote a check for $1 million to HCZ without any publicity or fanfare.
In all, the defense said, Rajaratnam gave away about $45 million to charity.
Prosecutors, however, painted a picture of a greedy Wall Street investor who was a "fundamentally deceptive and dishonest person." They said he lied under oath in a civil deposition and told others how to avoid detection.
“Rajaratnam repeatedly leveraged the power of money and his position as the head of a 7-billion dollar hedge fund to induce friends, employees, and associates to participate in his criminal activities. Although already rich, Rajaratnam did this to drive up his personal wealth through profitable trading in his hedge fund," prosecutors said.
They compared him to other high-profile white collar felons such as Enron Corp.'s Jeffrey Skilling and WorldCom Inc.'s Bernard Ebbers, convicted for "the worst of accounting frauds," and Bernard Madoff, who duped and ruined investors with "the worst of Ponzi schemes." Skilling was sentenced to 24 years, Ebbers to 25 years, and Madoff to 150 years.
Rajaratnam is currently free on bail but is fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
He is facing a separate civil lawsuit, filed in October 2009, which seeks unspecified damages for 30 Sri Lankan victims of terrorism, accusing him of providing financial and material support to the LTTE through its front organization the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO). According to the complaint filed in a US Court in New Jersey, Rajaratnam responded to the LTTE’s call for support of its ‘final war’ by contributing $1 million to the TRO-USA in June 2004. “This personal contribution is consistent with an earlier $1,000,000.00 contribution Rajaratnam made in 2000 following the LTTE’s successful “Elephant Pass” attack. Both donations demonstrate that Rajaratnam’s contributions were given with the knowledge and purpose of supporting LTTE attacks and operations. The 2000 Elephant Pass campaign required significant logistical and material support to implement.”
Click here to read more about Rajaratnam’s alleged ties to the LTTE.
NOTE: Our articles are free for use on your site, your blog or in your publication. But we do ask that you not edit our material except for style and dates and that you credit us by including both the journalist’s name, when applicable, and our website name “UPDATE: SL-USA”.
Rajaratnam, 54, was convicted on May 11, after a two-month trial, of all 14 criminal counts of conspiracy and securities fraud he was charged with. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 27.
In a 56-page document filed in the US District Court (Southern District of New York) on August 9, lead US Attorney Preet Bharara called Rajaratnam’s criminal conduct brazen, arrogant, and pervasive. “He corrupted old friends. He corrupted subordinates. He corrupted entire markets. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Rajaratnam operated as a billion-dollar force of deception and corruption on Wall Street,"
Rajaratnam’s lawyers filed a separate 79-page memorandum describing the former CEO as being very ill and asking the court for a sentence ‘substantially below’ the federal guidelines, combined with a financial penalty and extensive community service.
“Mr. Rajaratnam’s failing health and the unique constellation of ailments ravaging his body mean, quite simply, that a lengthy period of imprisonment will constitute a death sentence and result in the permanent and final separation of Mr. Rajaratnam from his family,” his lawyers said.
The defense memorandum was packed with letters from friends, family members, former colleagues, and several Sri Lankan businessman who praised Rajaratnam as a ‘humble and approachable person’ who gave generously to the needy. Businessman H. Esufally attested that Rajaratnam funded the building of 300 flats for the Muslim community in the eastern province after the 2004 tsunami, while Geoffrey Canada, who heads the non-profit Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), said Rajaratnam wrote a check for $1 million to HCZ without any publicity or fanfare.
In all, the defense said, Rajaratnam gave away about $45 million to charity.
Prosecutors, however, painted a picture of a greedy Wall Street investor who was a "fundamentally deceptive and dishonest person." They said he lied under oath in a civil deposition and told others how to avoid detection.
“Rajaratnam repeatedly leveraged the power of money and his position as the head of a 7-billion dollar hedge fund to induce friends, employees, and associates to participate in his criminal activities. Although already rich, Rajaratnam did this to drive up his personal wealth through profitable trading in his hedge fund," prosecutors said.
They compared him to other high-profile white collar felons such as Enron Corp.'s Jeffrey Skilling and WorldCom Inc.'s Bernard Ebbers, convicted for "the worst of accounting frauds," and Bernard Madoff, who duped and ruined investors with "the worst of Ponzi schemes." Skilling was sentenced to 24 years, Ebbers to 25 years, and Madoff to 150 years.
Rajaratnam is currently free on bail but is fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
He is facing a separate civil lawsuit, filed in October 2009, which seeks unspecified damages for 30 Sri Lankan victims of terrorism, accusing him of providing financial and material support to the LTTE through its front organization the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO). According to the complaint filed in a US Court in New Jersey, Rajaratnam responded to the LTTE’s call for support of its ‘final war’ by contributing $1 million to the TRO-USA in June 2004. “This personal contribution is consistent with an earlier $1,000,000.00 contribution Rajaratnam made in 2000 following the LTTE’s successful “Elephant Pass” attack. Both donations demonstrate that Rajaratnam’s contributions were given with the knowledge and purpose of supporting LTTE attacks and operations. The 2000 Elephant Pass campaign required significant logistical and material support to implement.”
Click here to read more about Rajaratnam’s alleged ties to the LTTE.
NOTE: Our articles are free for use on your site, your blog or in your publication. But we do ask that you not edit our material except for style and dates and that you credit us by including both the journalist’s name, when applicable, and our website name “UPDATE: SL-USA”.