Raj Rajaratnam’s profits from his alleged insider trading could top $50 million, up from an already revised figure of $36 million, federal prosecutors said.
The amount was presented by Assistant US Attorney Joshua Kline at a bail hearing yesterday for the founder of fallen hedge fund Galleon Group, who’s being accused of leading an insider trading ring.
Kline said that prosecutors had recently located another $5 million, and “we know there are millions of additional dollars of profits.”
Despite the new number, US District Court Judge Richard Holwell denied the government’s plea to throw Rajaratnam behind bars as he awaits trial.
But Holwell also rejected Rajaratnam’s request to reduce his bail to $20 million from $100 million. Holwell said he didn’t feel the current bail figure was so large as to “impair the defendant’s ability to marshal a defense or live his life.”
Rajaratnam is one of nearly two dozen people to face charges in connection with the alleged scheme, which has already cost Rajaratnam his firm and led to several guilty pleas. It is considered the largest insider trading case in US history.
Yesterday’s new profit figure marks the second time in a week that the feds have boosted the size of Rajaratnam’s alleged take. Last week, prosecutors said his alleged misdeeds had earned him$36 million rather than $17 million.
It also comes just days after Rajaratnam’s college chum, Anil Kumar, a former senior partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., pleaded guilty in connection with the insider trading scheme.
Kumar has said that between 2004 and 2009, Rajaratnam paid him millions in exchange for confidential information about McKinsey clients.
One such deal was an acquisition by chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices.
Meanwhile, the government released the name of three potential witnesses, investment analyst Thomas Hardin, hedge fund manager Ian Murray and Gustavo D’Souza.