Hedge fund chief guilty of fraud

Hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam was found guilty on all 14 conspiracy and securities fraud charges of insider trading yesterday, in a vindication of the US government's aggressive tactics in prosecuting crime on Wall Street.

Rajaratnam, a one-time billionaire and founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, will remain free on bail until sentencing on 29 July, US district judge Richard Holwell ruled after the jury delivered its verdict. He could face 19 years in a federal prison.

The Manhattan federal jury announced its unanimous verdict on the 12th day of deliberations in what many legal experts said was a strong prosecution case using FBI phone taps and testimony of three former friends and associates of Rajaratnam. The jury convicted Rajaratnam of nine counts of securities fraud and five counts of conspiracy.

During the two-month trial, prosecutors hammered at their argument that Rajaratnam cheated to gain an unfair advantage in the stock market from 2003 to March 2009, reaping an illicit $63.8 million.

Defence lawyers had stuck consistently to their main theme that Rajaratnam's trades were guided by a trove of research and public information, not secrets leaked by highly placed corporate insiders.