Hedge Fund Co-Founder Rajaratnam Is Sentenced to Record 11 Years for Insider Trading
The co-founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, Raj Rajaratnam, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for insider trading.
Judge Richard Holwell imposed the prison sentence today and fined Rajaratnam $10 million, Bloomberg News reports. The 11-year sentence is the longest ever imposed for insider trading, according to the New York Times. Prosecutors had sought a 19- to 24-year prison term.
Rajaratnam was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in May in the largest insider trading case to date involving hedge funds. In court papers, prosecutors said Rajaratnam “operated as a billion-dollar force of deception and corruption on Wall Street,” corrupting friends, subordinates and “entire markets.”
According to the Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), white-collar criminals, and insider traders in particular, are getting stiffer prison sentences than in the past.
