Indian-American Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey director has agreed to waive indictment in the Galleon Hedge Fund case described as the largest insider trading case in the history of U.S., an indication of some sort of deal being struck out between him and the prosecutors.
The latest court documents filed by Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said his office would file more documents known as “information”.
Waiving right to indictment could mean that some sort of deal has been reached between Mr. Kumar and the prosecutors, which holds the possibility of the accused pleading guilty.
The case has grown to involve 21 people including four Indian-origin people. Total profits earned in the scheme were $20.6 million.
Four suspects in the case including Rajiv Goel, director in strategic investments at Intel Corp’s investment arm, have already pleaded guilty and Mr. Kumar’s cooperation could strengthen the case against the alleged ringleader, Raj Rajratanam who pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, in December.
Mr. Kumar who left McKinsey after being put on indefinite leave had been accused of providing insider information about Advanced Micro Devices Inc to Mr. Rajratanam.
In October, Mr. Rajaratnam, multibillionaire and Galleon Group founder, was charged in one of the country’s largest insider-trading cases. Out of illegal profits, Mr. Rajaratnam alone made $12.7 million in illegal profits for Galleon.
He received 13 charges, four counts of conspiracy and eight counts of security fraud. Galleon Group is a hedge fund with up to seven billion dollar in assets under management.
“People will probably ask just how pervasive is insider trading these days? Is this just the tip of the iceberg?” said Mr. Bharara said previously. “We aim to find out.”
