Intel Executive, A Galleon Co-Defendant, Has Case Moved To NY
October 26 2009 - 2:57PM
Dow Jones News
An Intel Corp. (INTC) executive accused of passing on sensitive
information about the chip maker's activity to the head of
embattled hedge fund Galleon Group agreed Monday to have his case
moved to New York, where he will be prosecuted alongside the rest
of the defendants.
During an appearance Monday in a San Jose federal court, Rajiv
Goel, 51, an executive in the treasury department of Intel, waived
holding hearings challenging the government's request to move the
case. Goel also agreed to appear before a New York federal judge on
Thursday.
Goel, who isn't in custody, had no comment after the brief
hearing, and said he would make no comments until he has new legal
representation in New York. He was represented Monday by a public
defender.
The move comes as Galleon Group, the fund management company at
the center of one of the biggest insider-trading cases in decades,
begins the process of unwinding its roughly $3.7 billion portfolio.
Since the insider-trading case broke, the firm has been deluged
with redemption requests from investors, forcing it to sell off its
holdings and possibly close its business.
A federal criminal complaint alleges that Goel passed on
information regarding a 2008 recapitalization of wireless Internet
carrier Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) by Intel and other companies to
Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam. Galleon made several large
purchases of Clearwire shares before the re-financing of the
company occurred, generating a quick profit for the hedge fund
company, the complaint alleges.
Rajaratnam is also charged in the case. Rajaratnam, who has said
he is innocent, is free on $100 million bail.
Other defendants in the case have also denied wrongdoing.
In a separate civil suit, the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission alleges Goel, who graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School in the same year as Rajaratnam, also
passed on information about Intel's earnings. Trading based on
corporate information that hasn't been disseminated to the public
is illegal.
Goel, who has been placed on administrative leave by Intel,
isn't the only executive alleged to have conspired with Rajaratnam.
Others who have been charged include, Robert Moffat, 53, an
executive at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM); Anil
Kumar, 51, a director at management-consulting firm McKinsey &
Co.; Mark Kurland, 60, of hedge fund group New Castle Partners LLC;
and Danielle Chiesi, 43, a portfolio manager at New Castle.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230;
ben.charny@dowjones.com