Prosecutors demand hefty Rajaratnam sentence
US prosecutors said Tuesday that former hedge fund manager Raj
Rajaratnam should be given a hefty prison sentence next week, arguing
that illegal gains from his insider trading netted about $72 million.
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Raj Rajaratnam |
Assistant US Attorney Andrew Michaelson told a court hearing that
Rajaratnam should be punished for personal gains and also for the money
that his illegal trades earned his Galleon Group hedge fund.
Another prosecutor, Reed Brodsky, argued that Rajaratnam further
aggravated his crime by acting as leader of a wider conspiracy.
They demanded he be sentenced to as much as 293 months, or about 24.5
years, in prison, and a minimum of 19.5 years.
"Mr Rajaratnam is uniquely situated... (as) an individual at the top
of a pyramid in his hedge fund" with "interlocking trading schemes," he
said.
However, lawyers for the Sri Lankan-born founder of Galleon are
urging leniency, with a sentence of as little as six and a half years.
One complained about prosecutors' attempts to get an "extravagantly
high sentence" and said that Rajaratnam had never led a broader insider
trading effort, but essentially acted alone on tip-offs. AFP |
