US billionaire probed for LTTE terror link

A US-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), The Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing people familiar with the probe, the newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the United States whose donations to a Maryland-based charity made their way to the LTTE. Rajaratnam, 52, was among six people arrested Friday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said this is the largest-ever, hedge-fund insider-trading case, the paper noted.

Prosecutors allege Rajaratnam and his ring of alleged co-conspirators earned US$ 20 million in improper gains, the report said.

Rajaratnam’s New York-based Galleon fund firm manages $ 3.7 billion in investments. Jim Walden, an attorney for Rajaratnam, said his client is innocent and will fight the charges, according to the paper.

As part of a separate terrorism probe, which was led by the FBI in Brooklyn, New York, eight other people have pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the LTTE, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, The Journal noted.

Documents in a federal criminal complaint filed in US District Court in New York’s Eastern District include allegations by federal agents that money donated to a US charity called Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, or TRO USA, of Cumberland, Maryland, was funnelled to the Tigers insurgency, the paper noted.

The case was brought against Karunakaran Kandasamy, described by prosecutors as the head of the US branch of the LTTE, The Journal said. In the same case, an FBI agent cites documents uncovered in court-authorized searches as showing donations to TRO USA made by a person identified only as “individual B.”

AFP